cliché, perch, quintessential, collegiate, border on sth

Crime

Quintessentially English

Reviews by MARILYN STASIO

New crime fiction by Ruth Rendell, Walter Mosley, Ariana Franklin and Cara Black.

Perched on a hill above rolling cow pastures and cornfields, Hamilton is so quintessentially collegiate it borders on the cliché. An 1812 white-steepled chapel and ivy-covered stone dorms lace the main quadrangle. In 1978, Hamilton merged with Kirkland, an experimental girls’ school across the road. While the Hamilton campus is classic, Kirkland is a mélange of giant concrete cubes. “I’ve seen nicer-looking prisons,” said one spouse.

Definition

A cliché (from French, klɪ'ʃe) is a phrase, expression, or idea that has been overused to the point of losing its intended force or novelty, especially when at some time it was considered distinctively forceful or novel. The term is generally used in a negative context.

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perch (SIT) Show phonetics
verb
1 perch in/on, etc. sth to sit on or near the edge of something:
We perched on bar stools and had a beer.
A blackbird was perching on the gate.

2 to be in a high position or in a position near the edge of something, or to put something in this position:
The village is perched on top of a high hill.

perch Show phonetics
noun [C] plural perch or US ALSO perches
1 a place where a bird sits, especially a thin rod in a cage

2 a seat or other place high up, often giving a good view of something below:
We watched the parade from our perch on the scaffolding.

quintessential Hide phonetics
adjective FORMAL
being the most typical example or most important part of something:
Roasted garlic with sheep's milk cheese is the quintessential Corsican meal.

quintessentially Hide phonetics
adverb FORMAL
typically

quintessence Hide phonetics
noun [U] FORMAL
the most typical example:
An American football game is the quintessence of machismo.

collegiate

(kə-lē'jĭt, -jē-ĭt)
adj.

1. Of, relating to, or held to resemble a college.
2. Of, for, or typical of college students.
3. Of or relating to a collegiate church.

[Middle English collegiat, from Late Latin collēgiātus, from Latin collēgium, association. See collegium.]

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border on sth phrasal verb
If behaviour or a quality or feeling borders on something more extreme, it is almost that thing:
His suggestion borders on the ridiculous.
She possesses a self-confidence that borders on arrogance.