as in cliches
an idea or expression that has been used by many people
"blondes have more fun" is a silly platitude
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Recent Examples of platitudes
Survivors need concrete safety and justice, not spiritual platitudes.
—
Ed Gaskin, Boston Herald, 19 Oct. 2025
My first true attempts at poetry were self-guided, painfully rhymed, drenched in abstractions and exhausted platitudes.
—Via Scribner, Literary Hub, 6 Oct. 2025
His answers, typically, differ by just a few words and a few platitudes.
—Noah White, Miami Herald, 3 Oct. 2025
Nonetheless, commonplace platitudes about honor and bravery take precedence over the feminist undertones Wyatt may aspire to.
—Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 2 Oct. 2025
Hernández, well acquainted with such platitudes in the years since her husband Jim took his life in a frozen pond, became inspired to write a book about it.
—Julio Ojeda-Zapata, Twin Cities, 28 Sep. 2025
But when this team broke camp, their goal was not to speak in glass-half-full platitudes in late September.
—Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 24 Sep. 2025
When asked to divulge what gave him confidence in Volpe long term, Cashman did not point to any specifics but rather platitudes that have not mounted to much success three years into the shortstop’s career.
—Chris Kirschner, New York Times, 13 Sep. 2025
These kumbaya platitudes feel out of place when battered and bloody boys are dropping like flies, but that works to the film’s advantage, laying the groundwork for the final rug-pull.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2025
Ed Gaskin, Boston Herald, 19 Oct. 2025
My first true attempts at poetry were self-guided, painfully rhymed, drenched in abstractions and exhausted platitudes.
—Via Scribner, Literary Hub, 6 Oct. 2025
His answers, typically, differ by just a few words and a few platitudes.
—Noah White, Miami Herald, 3 Oct. 2025
Nonetheless, commonplace platitudes about honor and bravery take precedence over the feminist undertones Wyatt may aspire to.
—Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 2 Oct. 2025
Hernández, well acquainted with such platitudes in the years since her husband Jim took his life in a frozen pond, became inspired to write a book about it.
—Julio Ojeda-Zapata, Twin Cities, 28 Sep. 2025
But when this team broke camp, their goal was not to speak in glass-half-full platitudes in late September.
—Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 24 Sep. 2025
When asked to divulge what gave him confidence in Volpe long term, Cashman did not point to any specifics but rather platitudes that have not mounted to much success three years into the shortstop’s career.
—Chris Kirschner, New York Times, 13 Sep. 2025
These kumbaya platitudes feel out of place when battered and bloody boys are dropping like flies, but that works to the film’s advantage, laying the groundwork for the final rug-pull.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for platitudes
Noun
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Spoofing slashers and their tired cliches with a new perspective, the comedy features Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine as good-natured hillbillies assumed to be backwoods psycho killers by a bunch of college students.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
18 Oct. 2025
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New novels are rightly praised for breaking with traditional forms and criticized for turning to stale formulas and cliches.—
Nathaniel Moore
September 10,
Literary Hub,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
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There is an outright rejection of bromides that would give us some conclusion of reassurance.—
Richard Newby,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Sep. 2025
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Incidents of such poisoning saw a sharp decline when the Food and Drug Administration phased out the use of bromides in pharmaceuticals between the mid 70s and late 1980s.—
Mary Walrath-Holdridge,
USA Today,
13 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Written by Noah Oppenheim, Bigelow’s real-time thriller about the banalities and actualities of a fictional-in-premise-only nuclear attack on the United States is Netflix’s best horse in the race at the Oscars this year.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
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But the movie’s soft-hearted underbelly fails to support that reading, and by the time the story finally arrives at its final moments, the unsparing cynicism that supplied its initial lift has been dragged back down to Earth by the weight of bland truisms.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
15 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Platitudes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/platitudes. Accessed 27 Oct. 2025.
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