trite

American  

[trahyt] / traɪt /

adjective

triter, tritest

1. lacking in freshness or effectiveness because of constant use or excessive repetition; hackneyed; stale.

   the trite phrases in his letter.

   Synonyms:

   ordinary

   Antonyms:

   original

2. characterized by hackneyed expressions, ideas, etc..

   The commencement address was trite and endlessly long.

3. Archaic. rubbed or worn by use.

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trite British  

/ traɪt /

adjective

1. hackneyed; dull

   a trite comment

2. archaic frayed or worn out

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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

• triteness
  noun
• untriteness
  noun
• untrite
  adjective
• tritely
  adverb
• untritely
  adverb

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 An old-fashioned or outdated definition of the word is "frayed or worn out by use," and you can see how the meaning for an object that is worn out can be applied to an idea that has been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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

trite triter tritest

Here, as trite as it sounds, laughter is medicine.

From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026

They put their readers to sleep by deploying trite phrases in the passive voice.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

She isn’t alone in finding the “follow your passion” mantra tired and trite.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 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

He doesn’t say it to me anymore because Mom told him it was trite.

From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman

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

So central to our culture and so often mocked — made the emblem of television at its least imaginative and most imitative, at its tritest and tiredest.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2021

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

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

As a rule, she chooses the tritest topics, but she gives them a novelty and grace of her own.

From Modern Women and What is Said of Them A Reprint of A Series of Articles in the Saturday Review (1868) by Calhoun, Lucia Gilbert

Related Words

• banal
• corny
• dull
• hackneyed