Lapalissade

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A statement that is so obvious that it expresses a truth which cannot be denied or refuted
2. a remark that restates the obvious without adding new information
3. an instance of saying something that is self-evident and requires no further explanation or detail

Etymology: Jacques de La Palice was a French nobleman and military officer whose name became a joke after his death. He was remembered for a famous verse, attributed to a later song, in which he supposedly stated that if he were not dead he would still be alive. The point of the joke is that the statement tells you nothing you did not already know, and that is exactly what the word now names. The word comes from French "lapalissade," which is formed from his name plus the suffix "-ade," a French ending used to make nouns from people's actions or from certain kinds of utterances. So the word is literally a kind of act or remark named after him. The adjective "Lapalissian" is built on the same name, and both forms have stayed in use to describe truisms that are obvious to the point of being useless.

Synonyms: truism, platitude, tautology, self-evident truth, obvious truth

Antonyms: paradox, contradiction, absurdity