trope
noun/trəʊp/
/trəʊp/
(specialist)- a word or phrase that is used in a way that is different from its usual meaning in order to create a particular mental image or effect. Metaphors and similes are tropes.
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- a theme that is important or repeated in literature, films, etc.
- the trope of the mad scientist in horror movies
Word Originmid 16th cent.: via Latin from Greek tropos ‘turn, way, trope’, from trepein ‘to turn’.
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trope