千篇一律

qiānpiān-yīlǜ
idiom #24,635

Meanings

  1. 1 all the same
  2. 2 monotonously uniform
  3. 3 stereotyped and repetitive
  4. 4 cookie-cutter

Examples

HSK 6
Tā de zuòwén qiānpiānyīlǜ, lǎoshī pīpíng tā quēfá chuàngyì.
His essays were all the same, and the teacher criticized him for lacking creativity.
HSK 6
Zhè tiáo jiē de diànpù qiānpiānyīlǜ, méiyǒu shénme tèsè.
The shops on this street are all cookie-cutter, with nothing distinctive about them.

Tips

memory
千篇 (a thousand pieces of writing) + 一律 (one rule/pattern): imagine writing a thousand essays and they all follow the exact same template, perfectly capturing the sense of dull uniformity.

Stroke Order

qiān
piān