Meaning & use

old hat

adjective·Everyday

No longer new, interesting, or fashionable; so familiar that it has become boring.

See it in a sentence

By the time the app launched, the feature already felt old hat to most users.

Critics said the sequel's plot twists were old hat compared to the original film.

A note on using this word

Old hat is informal and works only as a predicate adjective, coming after a verb like be or feel rather than before a noun.

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