platitude
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platitude
- /ˈplatɪˌtjuːd/ UK
- /ˈplatɪˌtʃuːd/ UK
- /ˈplætɪˌt(j)ud/ US
- /ˈplatɪˌtjʉd/ Scotland
- /ˈplatɪˌtʃʉd/ Scotland
- /ˈplætɪˌtʃʉːd/ Australia
Rhymes with -ætɪtjuːd
Where it comes from
Borrowed from French platitude, from plat (“flat”).
noun platitudes
-
An often-quoted saying that is supposed to be meaningful but has become unoriginal or hackneyed through overuse.
Beauty, I suppose, opens the heart, extends the consciousness. It is a platitude, of course.
Similar: cliché, byword, saying, adage, saw, proverb, maxim, apothegm, apophthegm, dictum, gnome, gnomic saying
-
A claim that is trivially true, to the point of being uninteresting.
The synthesis which he helped to effect was so successful that this aspect of his work escaped notice in the last century: all that Britomart stands for was platitude to our fathers. It is platitude no longer.
Similar: truism
- Flatness; lack of change, activity, or deviation. The former figures the typical prairie landscape-poet who stops at the correction line (which itself literally denies the platitude of flatness) to notice the ever-present wind.
- Unoriginality; triteness. seemly platitude, flat-footed ordinariness, and well-enacted upper working class respectability cancel out any turpitude, exhilarating tension or satanic glamour a casino might be expected to have.
Translations
Every language
noun often-quoted saying
| Español | tópico, lugar común, platitud |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 陳腐な言葉 chinpu na kotoba, 在り来りの発言 arikitari no hatsugen |
| 中文 | 老生常談 /老生常谈 lǎoshēngchángtán, 陳詞濫調 /陈词滥调 chéncílàndiào |
| Português | platitude, clichê, chavão, lugar-comum |
| Français | platitude |
| Deutsch | Plattitüde, Gemeinplatz, Klischee, Floskel |
| Italiano | luogo comune |
| Ελληνικά | κοινοτυπία koinotypía |
| Русский | изби́тая фра́за izbítaja fráza |
noun unoriginality; triteness
| Español | platitud |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 陳腐 /陈腐 chénfǔ, 乏味 fáwèi |
| Português | platitude, banalidade |
| Deutsch | Plattitüde, Binsenweisheit, Banalität, Plattheit, Flachheit, Floskel |
| Italiano | banalità |
| Ελληνικά | κοινοτυπία koinotypía |
| Русский | бана́льность banálʹnostʹ, трюи́зм trjuízm |
Talk about this word "platitude." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/platitude. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. platitude. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/platitude "platitude." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/platitude.Cite this
@misc{platitude_2026,
title = {platitude},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/platitude},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
