platitude
28
7.7
- noun
- /ˈplætɪˌtud/
:
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- The speaker's comments were filled with platitudes, leaving the audience feeling uninspired and unchallenged.
- mouthing platitudes
- mere platitudes
- empty platitudes
So these are platitudes for faith.
- So these are platitudes for faith.
- And I promise you, what I'm saying in this video today is not just a platitude.
- We start to feel like the doormat for being tricked by the I love you and the other romantic platitudes.
- I'm going to have no stress, and all I'm going to do is just vomit up gratitude and serenity, platitude, all of that stuff.
- There was this like, weird thing, and this is like a platitude, but I, I was like a fucking Cliff that's shaped like that.
Examples
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Every time you come here, all you give me are platitudes.
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They give us platitudes about values.
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Parents and children must bear that platitude as their test of truth.
Fiction book (1990) -
So these are platitudes for faith.
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I know that's a platitude, but the truth of the matter is...
Fiction book (1990) -
Yeah, well, I'm saying all these platitudes, I know, but when it's right, I think you just know it.
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Small children are likely to take words literally and question the platitudes adults use to comfort themselves and others.
Academic text (2009) -
We can't express grief with standard, shallow platitudes.
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There are moments when I stand at this pulpit and I am silent because what can I possibly say in times of profound loss that mean anything more than a platitude.
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A general silence fell until my grandmother offered a few cheery and diffuse platitudes.
Fiction book (1994)
Synonyms
173
4.6
An overused phrase or idea that no longer seems original
10
7.2
An idea or remark that is very obvious and boring
4
8.3
A boring, unoriginal saying people use too often
1
4.1
An ordinary remark or idea that is not new
Boring, unimportant words or ideas in speech that have no real meaning
Antonyms
Compounds
How Trite
Surface Forms
Morphology
platitude = plat + itude
Although historically built from a root meaning 'flat' plus the suffix '-itude', the current sense 'trite or banal remark' cannot be derived by an average learner from the root form.
Etymology
Platitude comes from the French root plat, meaning 'flat', just like the English word flat. So a platitude is a 'flat' or boring remark that people have heard so many times it feels empty.