platitude

English

WOTD - 8 January 2007    

Etymology

From French, from Old French plat ‘flat’.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈplætɪtjuːd/, /ˈplætɪtuːd/

• Audio (US)

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Noun

platitude (plural platitudes)

1. An often-quoted saying that is supposed to be meaningful but has become unoriginal or hackneyed through overuse; a cliché.
   • 1918 — Algernon Blackwood, The Garden of Survival, ch XI

     Beauty, I suppose, opens the heart, extends the consciousness. It is a platitude, of course.

2. Unoriginality; triteness.
3. A claim that is trivially true, to the point of being uninteresting.

Quotations

• For examples of the usage of this term see the citations page.

Synonyms

• cliché
• See also Wikisaurus:saying

Translations

often-quoted saying

Czech: klišé (cs) n. Dutch: platitude (nl), cliché (nl) Finnish: klisee (fi), latteus (fi) French: platitude (fr) f. German: Plattitüde (de) f. Hungarian: közhely (hu) Icelandic: gömul tugga (is) f., margþvæld tugga (is) f., innantómur frasi (is) m.

Italian: luogo comune (it) Norwegian: platthet (no) m. Russian: избитая фраза f. Spanish: perogrullada (es), tópico (es) Swedish: plattityd, floskel

triteness

Czech: banalita (cs) f. Dutch: platitude (nl), cliché (nl) Finnish: latteus (fi) German: Plattitüde (de) f.

Italian: banalità (it) Russian: банальность (ru) f. Spanish: obviedad Swedish: plattityd, banalitet

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA: /plɐtiˈtydə/

Etymology

From French, from Old French plat ‘flat’.

Noun

platitude f. (plural platitudes, diminutive platituudje)

1. Platitude, cliché.