platitude
/ˈplatɪˌtjuːd/
"platitude" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“platitude” is uncommon English (frequency #78,026 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #78,026
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An often-quoted saying that is supposed to be meaningful but has become unoriginal or hackneyed through overuse.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | platitude |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈplatɪˌtjuːd/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #78,026 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “platitude” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
platitude is uncommon English at frequency #78,026 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈplatɪˌtjuːd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for platitude in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French platitude, from plat (“flat”). The correct English form is platitude, spelled P-L-A-T-I-T-U-D-E.
Definition
- 1An often-quoted saying that is supposed to be meaningful but has become unoriginal or hackneyed through overuse.
- 2A claim that is trivially true, to the point of being uninteresting.
- 3Flatness; lack of change, activity, or deviation.
- 4Unoriginality; triteness.
Etymology
Borrowed from French platitude, from plat (“flat”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “platitude”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-L-A-T-I-T-U-D-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈplatɪˌtjuːd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.