Why couldn't he, for once, say something vital and original instead of just spouting the same old platitudes?
...a stream of platitudes, outlining many problems but offering few solutions.
English dictionary. 2008.
platitude — [ platityd ] n. f. • 1694; de 1. plat 1 ♦ Caractère de ce qui est plat, sans originalité. ⇒ médiocrité. « Le monde est voué sans appel à la platitude, à la médiocrité » (Renan). ♢ UNE PLATITUDE. ⇒ banalité, fadaise. Débiter des platitudes. « une… … Encyclopédie Universelle
platitude — [plat′ə to͞od΄, plat′ətyo͞od΄] n. [Fr < OFr plat, flat (see PLATE), infl. by latitude, rectitude] 1. a commonplace, flat, or dull quality, as in speech or writing 2. a commonplace or trite remark, esp. one uttered as if it were fresh or… … English World dictionary
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. [1913 Webster] To hammer one golden grain of wit into a sheet of infinite… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
platitude — (n.) 1812, dullness, from Fr. platitude flatness, vapidness (late 17c.), from O.Fr. plat flat (see PLATE (Cf. plate)); formed on analogy of latitude, attitude, etc. Meaning a flat, dull, or commonplace remark is recorded from 1815. Related:… … Etymology dictionary
platitude — s. f. 1. [Galicismo] Falta de originalidade, banalidade. 2. [Figurado] Sensaboria, trivialidade. 3. Vulgaridade. 4. Monotonia, uniformidade. ‣ Etimologia: francês platitude … Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa
platitude — Platitude. s. f. Ce qui fait qu une chose est platte. Il n a d usage qu en parlant de discours, de style, des productions d esprit, &c. Tout ce qu il escrit, tout ce qu il dit est d une grande platitude … Dictionnaire de l'Académie française
Platitude — (franz., spr. tǖd ), Plattheit … Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon
Platitude — (frz., spr. tühd), Plattheit (im Ausdruck) … Kleines Konversations-Lexikon
Platitude — (–tühd), frz., Gemeinheit … Herders Conversations-Lexikon
platitude — noun absence of meaning, banality, cliche, commonplace expression, commonplace idea, commonplace phrase, dearth of ideas, dull comment, flat saying, hackneyed expression, hackneyed idea, hackneyed phrase, hackneyed saying, inanity, insipid remark … Law dictionary
platitude — *commonplace, truism, bromide, cliché Analogous words: banality, inanity, vapidity, insipidity (see corresponding adjectives at INSIPID): mawkishness, sentimentality (see corresponding adjectives at SENTIMENTAL) … New Dictionary of Synonyms
