Definition

Adjective: 1. Out of fashion; no longer stylish or current: Refers to something that is considered outdated, passé, or not in vogue. 2. Repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse: Describes an idea, phrase, or joke that has become stale, boring, or unoriginal because it has been used excessively.

Usage Examples

• Meaning 1 (Out of fashion):

  • Her old-hat dress from the 1980s looked charmingly vintage at the party.
  • That marketing strategy is completely old-hat; we need a modern approach.

• Meaning 2 (Overused, trite):

  • The politician's speech was full of old-hat clichés that failed to inspire the audience.
  • Critics panned the film for its old-hat plot and predictable ending.

Advanced Usage

• Used attributively (before a noun): The term is most commonly used directly before the noun it modifies to emphasize its outdated nature.
  • He dismissed the proposal as an old-hat concept.
• Used predictively (after a linking verb like 'is', 'seems', 'became'):
  • That theory seems rather old-hat now.

Variants and Related Words

• Old-fashioned (adj): Similar to the first meaning, but can also imply something is not modern in style or thought.
• Outmoded (adj): No longer fashionable or accepted.
• Passe (adj): No longer fashionable; out of date.
• Hackneyed (adj): Overused and consequently lacking in significance or originality (similar to the second meaning).
• Timeworn (adj): Showing the effects of long use or age; hackneyed.
• Threadbare (adj): (Of a phrase, idea, etc.) used so often that it is no longer effective.

Synonyms

• For "out of fashion": Outdated, antiquated, dated, obsolete, unfashionable.
• For "overfamiliar through overuse": Trite, clichéd, stale, banal, commonplace, stereotyped, platitudinous.

Related Phrases and Idioms

• "Old hat": This is the standard form of the idiom. It functions as a compound adjective and is typically hyphenated when used before a noun (old-hat).
  • Using a fax machine is old hat in today's digital office.
• "As old as the hills": An idiom meaning very old or ancient, which shares the concept of being outdated or long-established.

Adjective

1. out of fashion
   • a suit of rather antique appearance
   • demode (or outmoded) attire
   • outmoded ideas
2. repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
   • bromidic sermons
   • his remarks were trite and commonplace
   • hackneyed phrases
   • a stock answer
   • repeating threadbare jokes
   • parroting some timeworn axiom
   • the trite metaphor `hard as nails'