platitude

[plat-i-tood, -tyood]

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noun

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.

Origin of platitude

1805–15; < French: literally, flatness, equivalent to plat flat (see plate¹) + -itude, as in French latitude, altitude, magnitude, etc.

Can be confusedplatitude plaudit

Synonyms for platitude

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1. cliché, truism.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for platitude

banality, bromide, stereotype, tag, flatness, shibboleth, saw, truism, triviality, evenness, vapidity, buzzword, commonplace, monotony, proverb, motto, verbiage, inanity, insipidity, triteness

Examples from the Web for platitude

Contemporary Examples of platitude

Morning talk shows should be a doddle for a President: softball questions easily answered with a platitude or three.
‘Michelle Will Not Run For Office’: Obama's Daytime TV Confessional
Lloyd Grove
May 30, 2014
But how does one square his platitude with the reality of his situation?
March on Washington in 1963 Was Truly Militant, Despite Portrayals
Jamelle Bouie
August 26, 2013
I thought this was a kind of platitude, but she corrected me.
Terrorists Kidnap a Hero
Eliza Griswold
May 10, 2010

Historical Examples of platitude

To a Frenchman, everything is a platitude that is not a paradox.
The Bramleighs Of Bishop's Folly
Charles James Lever
A platitude that nobody has expressed and that nobody has acted on is a great truth.
The Ghost in the White House
Gerald Stanley Lee
It is tolerated to-day for no other reason than that it has cornered the platitude market.
Erik Dorn
Ben Hecht
Mr. Platitude was filled with wrath, and abused Dissenters in most unmeasured terms.
Lavengro
George Borrow
When I awoke from my reverie the Reverend Mr. Platitude was quitting the apartment.
Lavengro
George Borrow

British Dictionary definitions for platitude

platitude

noun

a trite, dull, or obvious remark or statement; a commonplace
staleness or insipidity of thought or language; triteness

Derived Formsplatitudinous, adjective

Word Origin for platitude

C19: from French, literally: flatness, from plat flat

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for platitude

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).