1
as in sermon
a public speech usually by a member of the clergy for the purpose of giving moral guidance or uplift
last Sunday's homily was about being kind to your neighbors
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2
as in cliche
an idea or expression that has been used by many people
a TV movie filled with the usual hokey homilies about people triumphing over life's adversities
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Recent Examples of homily
His discipline quickly reasserted itself, and with it his store of homilies.
—
Peter Goldman, Newsweek, 29 Dec. 2024
When lodging is granted, festivities ensue with prayers, scripture readings and a brief homily about Jesus’ birth.
—Kamren Curiel, Los Angeles Times, 4 Dec. 2024
Of course there is, although thankfully there’s not too much heavy-handedness to the script’s inherent homilies about fake news and American authoritarianism not just being a byproduct of the 1930s.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 16 June 2024
Last week, the pontiff skipped his homily during Palm Sunday Mass.
—Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 31 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for homily
Peter Goldman, Newsweek, 29 Dec. 2024
When lodging is granted, festivities ensue with prayers, scripture readings and a brief homily about Jesus’ birth.
—Kamren Curiel, Los Angeles Times, 4 Dec. 2024
Of course there is, although thankfully there’s not too much heavy-handedness to the script’s inherent homilies about fake news and American authoritarianism not just being a byproduct of the 1930s.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 16 June 2024
Last week, the pontiff skipped his homily during Palm Sunday Mass.
—Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 31 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for homily
Recent Examples of Synonyms for homily
Noun
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Catholics are opting for the Latin Mass, and public intellectual Jordan Peterson’s lectures now sound more like sermons than TED talks.—
Mike Woodruff,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Mar. 2025
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This Shabbat, Rosen gave a short sermon on the importance of breathing freely, both for oneself and for others.—
Yonat Shimron,
NPR,
9 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The song, the first disco hit and an indelible gay anthem, here feels like a pandering cliche.—
Christian Lewis,
Variety,
28 Mar. 2025
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However, and forgive the cliche, but GenAI tools are evolving so fast that what got your organization here won’t get it there.—
Clint Boulton,
Forbes,
25 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Who hasn’t been placated with corporate platitudes or company swag when advocating for concrete change?—
Leah Asmelash,
CNN,
21 Mar. 2025
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The film follows an ensemble of campers who are weary of platitudes about grief, and speak to one another from a place of radical honesty that is by turns heartbreaking and darkly hilarious, embracing irreverent humor as a cathartic means of self-expression.—
Addie Morfoot,
Variety,
19 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The two-dimensional characters communicate in bromides; Lena’s fellow privates, who suffer from the laziest defining characteristics (coarse Southern gal, proper preacher’s daughter, New Yorker), are the worst offenders.—
Vikram Murthi,
IndieWire,
6 Dec. 2024
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In place of triumph-of-the-human-spirit bromides, though, what the book delivers is its own kind of cinema, harsh and true.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
8 July 2024
Noun
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The movie offers phantasmagorical twists on unexceptional banalities.—
Richard Brody,
The New Yorker,
14 Feb. 2025
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Two clips perfectly illustrate how late night fits 2025’s vibes to a T, the place where banality meets evil: one, Stephen Colbert interviewing the current (former?) director of USAID; and two, Andy Cohen cross-examining Summer House’s Craig Conover about his breakup with Paige DeSorbo on WWHL.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
7 Feb. 2025
Noun
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There is a saying among lawyers and crisis communications professionals: A coverup is often worse than the crime or crisis itself.—
Rick Pozniak,
Boston Herald,
1 Apr. 2025
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Diet As the saying goes, everything starts with your diet—and that includes bone health.—
Melanie Curry,
People.com,
1 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The President’s sweeping orders confirm the truism that political shifts test the elasticity and resilience of American democracy.—
Blake D. Morant,
Forbes.com,
3 Apr. 2025
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The truism has it that most great New York magazine editors come from away—from the West or the Midwest or across the Atlantic—and arrive with an ability to see what natives don’t.—
Nathan Heller,
The New Yorker,
15 Mar. 2025
Noun
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But Bluey’s comforted when Calypso tells her a proverb about a farmer who trusts everything will turn out the way it’s meant to be.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
26 Mar. 2025
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Whitaker nicknamed the place Sparrow Hall, a reference to a medieval saint’s proverb about a sparrow who flies over a royal banquet, feeling only a brief moment of warmth.—
Adriane Quinlan,
Curbed,
17 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Homily.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/homily. Accessed 12 Apr. 2025.
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