6 results for: platitude

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

plat·i·tude

Audio Help [plat-i-tood, -tyood] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	a flat, dull, or trite remark, esp. one uttered as if it were fresh or profound.

2.	the quality or state of being flat, dull, or trite: the platitude of most political oratory.

[Origin: 1805–15; < F: lit., flatness, equiv. to plat flat (see plate¹) + -itude, as in F latitude, altitude, magnitude, etc.

]

—Synonyms 1. cliché, truism.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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platitude

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

plat·i·tude Audio Help (plāt'ĭ-tōōd', -tyōōd') Pronunciation Key
n.

A trite or banal remark or statement, especially one expressed as if it were original or significant. See Synonyms at cliché.
Lack of originality; triteness.

[French, from plat, flat, from Old French; see plate.]

plat'i·tu'di·nous (-tōōd'n-əs, -tyōōd'-), plat'i·tu'di·nal (-tōōd'n-əl, -tyōōd'-) adj., plat'i·tu'di·nous·ly adv.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
platitude

1812, "dullness," from Fr. platitude "flatness, vapidness" (1694), from O.Fr. plat "flat" (see plate); formed on analogy of latitude, attitude, etc. Meaning "a flat, dull, or commonplace remark" is recorded from 1815.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

platitude
noun
a trite or obvious remark

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Platitude

Plat"i*tude\, n. [F., from plat flat. See Plate.]

1. The quality or state of being flat, thin, or insipid; flat commonness; triteness; staleness of ideas of language.

To hammer one golden grain of wit into a sheet of infinite platitude. --Motley.

2. A thought or remark which is flat, dull, trite, or weak; a truism; a commonplace.

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