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
Who hasn’t been placated with corporate platitudes or company swag when advocating for concrete change?
—
Leah Asmelash, CNN, 21 Mar. 2025
The film follows an ensemble of campers who are weary of platitudes about grief, and speak to one another from a place of radical honesty that is by turns heartbreaking and darkly hilarious, embracing irreverent humor as a cathartic means of self-expression.
—Addie Morfoot, Variety, 19 Mar. 2025
The members simply rounded up the usual suspects of platitudes.
—Vincent Turley, Hartford Courant, 2 Mar. 2025
And Romero and his curatorial team didn’t really engage with Abramovic beyond cursory platitudes.
—Kim Córdova, New York Times, 25 Feb. 2025
Typically, the focus is on court operations and budget — the number of cases handled, number of cases resolved, and so on — with occasional platitudes about access to justice.
—Steve Zeidman, New York Daily News, 11 Feb. 2025
At the same time, Angelou is routinely reduced to an unthreatening avatar of inspirational platitudes, her work often overlooked by academics and critics even as her most quotable quips circulate endlessly.
—TIME, 28 Jan. 2025
Yet platitudes of peace collide with acute realities for Ukraine along the 600-mile front line, which buzzes with drones and the near-constant reverberations of artillery and rocket fire.
—Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor, 21 Jan. 2025
But the deeper terrain of meditation is often shrouded in hazy platitudes.
—Oshan Jarow, Vox, 8 Jan. 2025
Leah Asmelash, CNN, 21 Mar. 2025
The film follows an ensemble of campers who are weary of platitudes about grief, and speak to one another from a place of radical honesty that is by turns heartbreaking and darkly hilarious, embracing irreverent humor as a cathartic means of self-expression.
—Addie Morfoot, Variety, 19 Mar. 2025
The members simply rounded up the usual suspects of platitudes.
—Vincent Turley, Hartford Courant, 2 Mar. 2025
And Romero and his curatorial team didn’t really engage with Abramovic beyond cursory platitudes.
—Kim Córdova, New York Times, 25 Feb. 2025
Typically, the focus is on court operations and budget — the number of cases handled, number of cases resolved, and so on — with occasional platitudes about access to justice.
—Steve Zeidman, New York Daily News, 11 Feb. 2025
At the same time, Angelou is routinely reduced to an unthreatening avatar of inspirational platitudes, her work often overlooked by academics and critics even as her most quotable quips circulate endlessly.
—TIME, 28 Jan. 2025
Yet platitudes of peace collide with acute realities for Ukraine along the 600-mile front line, which buzzes with drones and the near-constant reverberations of artillery and rocket fire.
—Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor, 21 Jan. 2025
But the deeper terrain of meditation is often shrouded in hazy platitudes.
—Oshan Jarow, Vox, 8 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Platitudes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/platitudes. Accessed 23 May. 2025.
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