platitude
[plat-i-tood, -tyood]
- a flat, dull, or trite remark, especially one uttered as if it were fresh or profound.
- the quality or state of being flat, dull, or trite: the platitude of most political oratory.
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Origin of platitude
1805–15; < French: literally, flatness, equivalent to plat flat (see plate1) + -itude, as in French latitude, altitude, magnitude, etc.
Synonyms
See more synonyms for platitude on Thesaurus.com1. cliché, truism.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for platitude
Contemporary Examples
Morning talk shows should be a doddle for a President: softball questions easily answered with a platitude or three.
But how does one square his platitude with the reality of his situation?
I thought this was a kind of platitude, but she corrected me.
Historical Examples
To a Frenchman, everything is a platitude that is not a paradox.
The Bramleighs Of Bishop's FollyCharles James Lever
A platitude that nobody has expressed and that nobody has acted on is a great truth.
The Ghost in the White HouseGerald Stanley Lee
It is tolerated to-day for no other reason than that it has cornered the platitude market.
Erik DornBen Hecht
Mr. Platitude was filled with wrath, and abused Dissenters in most unmeasured terms.
LavengroGeorge Borrow
When I awoke from my reverie the Reverend Mr. Platitude was quitting the apartment.
LavengroGeorge Borrow
platitude
- a trite, dull, or obvious remark or statement; a commonplace
- staleness or insipidity of thought or language; triteness
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Word Origin
C19: from French, literally: flatness, from plat flat
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for platitude
n.
1812, "dullness," from French platitude "flatness, vapidness" (late 17c.), from Old French plat "flat" (see plateau (n.)); formed on analogy of latitude, etc. Meaning "a flat, dull, or commonplace remark" is recorded from 1815. Related: Platitudinous. Hence platitudinarian (n.), 1855; platitudinize (1867).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper