proverbial

proverbial
    adj 1: of or relating to or resembling or expressed in a
           proverb; "he kicked the proverbial bucket"; "the
           proverbial grasshopper"
    2: widely known and spoken of; "her proverbial lateness"; "the
       proverbial absentminded professor"; "your proverbial dizzy
       blonde"
    

Proverbial \Pro*ver"bi*al\, a. [L. proverbialis: cf. F.
   proverbial.]
   1. Mentioned or comprised in a proverb; used as a proverb;
      hence, commonly known; as, a proverbial expression; his
      meanness was proverbial.
      [1913 Webster]

            In case of excesses, I take the German proverbial
            cure, by a hair of the same beast, to be the worst.
                                                  --Sir W.
                                                  Temple.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Of or pertaining to proverbs; resembling a proverb. "A
      proverbial obscurity." --Sir T. Browne.
      [1913 Webster]
    

45 Moby Thesaurus words for "proverbial":
      accepted, acknowledged, aphoristic, apophthegmatic, apothegmatic,
      archetypal, axiomatic, common, commonly known, commonplace, crisp,
      current, epigrammatic, exemplary, familiar, formulaic, formulistic,
      gnomic, hackneyed, homiletic, household, moralistic, notorious,
      pithy, platitudinous, pointed, public, pungent, sententious,
      succinct, talked-about, talked-of, terse, time-honored,
      traditional, trite, truistic, typical, universally admitted,
      universally recognized, well-kenned, well-known, well-recognized,
      well-understood, widely known