platitude means an often-quoted saying that is supposed to be meaningful but has become unoriginal or hackneyed through overuse. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 76 out of 100.
platitude is pronounced /ˈplatɪˌtjuːd/.
Why “platitude” is a great word
PLATITUDE — [Noun] A remark or statement, often presented as profound or original, that is unoriginal, trite, and lacking in depth due to overuse. From the French platitude ("flatness, vapidness"), from plat ("flat") + -itude (abstract noun suffix). First recorded in English use 1762. Unlike an "aphorism," a sharply honed insight, or "nuance," a subtle distinction, a platitude is a verbal counterfeit, a deflated coin passed off as currency. It is the motivational poster in a sterile corridor, the prefabricated consolation in a condolence card, the hollow slogan echoing in an empty square—the ghost of a meaningful thought, now only a shape the mouth makes out of habit.
Etymology
Borrowed from French platitude, from plat (“flat”).
noun
- 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.”
- 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.”
- 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.”