trite
Americanadjective
-
lacking in freshness or effectiveness because of constant use or excessive repetition; hackneyed; stale.
the trite phrases in his letter.
- Synonyms:
- ordinary
- Antonyms:
- original
-
characterized by hackneyed expressions, ideas, etc..
The commencement address was trite and endlessly long.
-
Archaic. rubbed or worn by use.
adjective
-
hackneyed; dull
a trite comment
-
archaic frayed or worn out
Usage
What does trite mean? Trite describes something as being boring or ineffective because it is used so much, as in All politicians seem to make the same trite promises to be honest. Something that is trite is stale and worn out. It’s most often used to criticize or insult someone’s speech or writing ability. Example: This lecture kept going in circles and was so trite.
Synonym Usage
See commonplace.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of trite
First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin trītus “worn, common,” past participle of terere “to rub, wear down”
Explanation
When you want to indicate that something is silly or overused, you would call it trite. A love song with lyrics about holding hands in the sunshine? Totally trite. Trite has a Latin root, the past participle of terere, meaning "wear out." An old-fashioned or outdated definition of the word is "frayed or worn out by use," and you can see how the meaning for an object that is worn out can be applied to an idea that has been used to the point of being meaningless. The antonym of this word is original.
Vocabulary lists containing trite
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Yes, it’s trite, but most clichés have an element of truth.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
If that were an innovative idea, we’d have been worshipping at the heels of last year’s equally topical yet no less trite sci-fi horror “Companion.”
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
And while I won’t go so far as to use a trite phrase like, 40s are the new 30s, well…You catch my drift.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
Stocks, indexes, and call-option implied volatility are advancing to ever-higher highs, despite innumerable risks that are almost too trite to mention.
From Barron's ● May 13, 2026
On General Hospital or Guiding Light a similar story might come off as trite or even laughable.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
The resultant essay, titled “E Unibus Pluram,” took special pains not to descend into lazy “anti-TV paranoia,” “far cruder and triter than what the critics complain about.”
From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2015
The “life lessons that our innocent hero learns may sound like the tritest of homilies,” Stephen Holden wrote in his review for The Times.
From New York Times ● Sep. 8, 2018
The tritest way is that we get to inhabit other lands, other customs, other personalities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2016
Maybe every writer is doomed to have their tritest sentence become their most-tweeted, but in Joan Didion’s case, it feels particularly unfair that “we tell ourselves stories in order to live” has become so ubiquitous.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 17, 2015
The tritest of all exercises in voyeuristic celebrity worship, that flimsy fold-up guide to the homes of actors and actresses represents the ultimate divide between the “haves” and “have-nots.”
From Washington Times ● Feb. 25, 2015
It is the tritest of platitudes to say that he could ill be spared by the English stage.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 80, June, 1864 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
