Today's Word

Subscribe

Archives

Nov 15, 2007

This week's theme
Words to describe people

This week's words
mystagogue
patrician
recalcitrant
platitudinarian
macroscian

“You have to fall in love with hanging around words.” ~John Ciardi
Spread the love to friends & family

---

platitudinarian

noun: One who utters platitudes or trite remarks.

From French plat (flat). Ultimately from the Indo-European root plat- (to spread), which is also the root of flat, to flatter, plan, plant, plantain, plateau, plaza, platinum, supplant, and transplant. Earliest documented use: 1854.

“Her successor, Livingston Biddle, was a platitudinarian, who to this day likes to expatiate on his slogan that ‘the arts mean excellence’; one need only listen to him for two minutes to cease believing in art and excellence both.”
Joseph Epstein; What to Do About the Arts; Commentary; Apr 1995.

See more usage examples of platitudinarian in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.