Dull, boring, or overused statements that are supposed to be wise but are actually obvious and meaningless.
From French 'platitude,' derived from 'plat' meaning 'flat' or 'insipid.' The word was coined in the 17th century to describe ideas that had been flattened of all substance and originality through overuse.
A platitude is like verbal junk food—'everything happens for a reason' or 'you miss 100% of the shots you don't take'—they sound wise but they're so overused they've had all the meaning squished flat out of them!
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