platitude
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From French, from Old French plat ‘flat’.
Pronunciation [edit]
Noun [edit]
platitude (plural platitudes)
- 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.
- 1918 — Algernon Blackwood, The Garden of Survival, ch XI
- Unoriginality; triteness.
- 1922, Michael Arlen, chapter 2/1/2, “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days[1]:
- Semiramis was the first woman to invent eunuchs and women have had sympathy for them ever since; […] and women can tell them what they can't tell other men. And Ivor, suddenly cheered by laughing at his absurd platitudes, and finding himself by the door, was going from the room.
- 1922, Michael Arlen, chapter 2/1/2, “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days[1]:
- A claim that is trivially true, to the point of being uninteresting.
Quotations [edit]
- For usage examples of this term, see the citations page.
Synonyms [edit]
- cliché
- See also Wikisaurus:saying
Translations [edit]
often-quoted saying
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triteness
Dutch [edit]
Pronunciation [edit]
- IPA: /plɐtiˈtydə/
Etymology [edit]
From French, from Old French plat ‘flat’.
Noun [edit]
platitude f (plural platitudes, diminutive platitudetje)
