platitudes

noun

plural of platitude
as in clichés
an idea or expression that has been used by many people "blondes have more fun" is a silly platitude

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of platitudes Today, Instagram unveiled a refresh of its wordmark, accompanied by the usual bland corporate platitudes these kinds of announcements are always packaged with. — Aurich Lawson, ArsTechnica, 13 Aug. 2026 Not everybody needs to spend the rest of their life totally abstinent with a cup of shitty coffee in a Styrofoam cup regurgitating platitudes. — James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 12 Aug. 2026 At last week’s meeting, though, Warsh spoke largely in platitudes and generalizations. — John Cassidy, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026 Leaders must understand grief's unique, individual nature, avoiding assumptions or platitudes. — Mena Mirhom, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026 The shorter run time also means some themes get reduced into syrup; the platitudes come as fast and furious as Tao and Elle’s breakups and makeups, with too little space to breathe in between. — Gemma Wilson, Boston Herald, 19 July 2026 There’s passable yet indistinguishable music in this exact style dropping every day, but the difference with Chicago’s Fatso is that his lyrics feel like scraps of conversations that communicate his hurt without leaning on platitudes. — Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 24 June 2026 Victor Lindelof’s pre-match comments smacked of bombast and confidence, the sort of words which are said but not meant, platitudes used to motivate rather than to be sworn under oath. — Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 15 June 2026 What is in danger is that this will strip away the soul, the raw humanity actors like Jim Handy brough to each role and replace it with flat, generalized platitudes. — Carl Kurlander, Deadline, 13 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for platitudes
  1. bromides
  2. banalities
  3. truisms
  4. sayings
  5. tropes
Noun
  • The president used similar bromides in private calls to assuage allies, including Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson, before launching the war in February, according to people familiar with the conversations.
    — Vivian Salama, The Atlantic, 3 June 2026
  • While these songs might appear to be somewhat straightforward EBM that wear their politics on their latex sleeve, there’s a level of ambiguity at work that moves Kissing Luck Goodbye past its own bromides and into deeper artistic territory.
    — Sadie Sartini Garner, Pitchfork, 16 Apr. 2026
Definition of bromides
Noun
  • Then morning would come, with all the banalities that drew them apart.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Aug. 2026
  • And even though access to such banalities may sound brain-deadening, and at best dull, some of the most famous people in the world are now live-streamers.
    — Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of banalities
Noun
  • Spain’s success over the past five years has undermined many long-standing political-economic truisms.
    — Rogé Karma, The Atlantic, 1 June 2026
  • The play isn’t subtle; the final sequence leans hard on truisms about addiction and trauma, which are affecting but overly explicit.
    — Sheldon Pearce, New Yorker, 20 Feb. 2026
Definition of truisms
Noun
  • Teachers of science, mathematics and English were expected to include Quranic verses, sayings and traditions attributed to the Prophet Muhammad or other religious messages in their lessons.
    — Fatima Faizi, NPR, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Personalize the labels with sweet sayings, their initials, or even anniversary dates to commemorate the occasion.
    — Kate McGregor, Architectural Digest, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of sayings
Noun
  • The language of a sociopath is very easy to have a mustached, twirly guy speaking and pontificating and vaguely threatening tropes, but to really give him a kind of humanity, vulnerability.
    — Beatrice Verhoeven, HollywoodReporter, 15 Aug. 2026
  • Its real interest, though, seems to lie beyond both DC Universe lore and the procedural tropes of the rural murder investigations that occupy most of its runtime.
    — Judy Berman, Time, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of tropes

Browse Nearby Words

platitude
platitudes
platitudinal
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Cite this Entry

“Platitudes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/platitudes. Accessed 21 Aug. 2026.

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