A platitude is a trite, meaningless, or prosaic statement that is presented as if it were significant and original. The word derives from plat, the French word for "flat". Whether any given statement is considered to have meaning or not is highly subjective, so platitude is often ? but not always ? used as a pejorative term to describe seemingly profound statements that a certain person views as unoriginal or shallow.The statements most commonly described as "platitudes" are short proverbs and a