trite Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
    well-worn; commonplace; hackneyed; tired; old-hat; timeworn; banal; threadbare; shopworn; stock.
    • bromidic sermons
    • his remarks were trite and commonplace
    • hackneyed phrases
    • a stock answer
    • repeating threadbare jokes
    • parroting some timeworn axiom
    • the trite metaphor `hard as nails'

WordNet

Trite adjective
Etymology
L. tritus, p. p. of terere to rub, to wear out; probably akin to E. throw. See Throw, and cf. Contrite, Detriment, Tribulation, Try.
Definitions
  1. Worn out; common; used until so common as to have lost novelty and interest; hackneyed; stale; as, a trite remark; a trite subject. -- Trite"ly, adv. -- Trite"ness, n.

Webster 1913