phatic

American  

[fat-ik] / ˈfæt ɪk /

adjective

1. denoting speech used to express or create an atmosphere of shared feelings, goodwill, or sociability rather than to impart information.

   phatic communion.

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phatic British  

/ ˈfætɪk /

adjective

1. (of speech, esp of conversational phrases) used to establish social contact and to express sociability rather than specific meaning

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Etymology

Origin of phatic

1923; probably < Greek phat ( ós ) spoken, capable of being spoken (verbid of phánai to speak; prophet ) + -ic; coined (in phrase phatic communion ) by Bronislaw Malinowski

Example Sentences

If we hope to take climate change seriously, we need, I think, to get past the phatic banality of weather.

From Slate • Apr. 29, 2016

It's basic small talk, little more than a friendly phatic utterance, hardly untoward.

From Slate • Dec. 4, 2013

Our language may sound less communicative than chirpy: not in the sense of cheerful, but rather like the phatic calls of birds, simply emphasizing that we are still here to do the telling.

From New York Times • Oct. 4, 2012

Or is it perhaps the indication of an actual pathology, a void that has become normalised by phatic online interaction with strangers?

From The Guardian • Aug. 21, 2012

Many Western ears will find it hard to tell whether Merwin is being vatic or phatic.

From Time Magazine Archive