NOUN
a remark or statement, esp. one with a moral content, that has been used too often to be interesting or thoughtful:
   she began uttering liberal platitudes.
the quality of being dull, ordinary, or trite:
   educators willing to violate the bounds of platitude.

DERIVATIVES
platitudinize, platitudinous.

ORIGIN
early 19th century: from French, from plat (flat).

SYNONYMS
cliché, truism, banality, old chestnut.