Lapalissian

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Describing a statement so obviously true that it says nothing new, like a truism named after the French marshal Jacques de La Palice
2. Characterizing a remark that is self-evident and trivially true, the kind of observation that states the plainly obvious
3. Referring to an obvious truth or tautological assertion that tells the listener nothing they did not already know

Etymology: Jacques de la Palice was a French nobleman and military officer, and his epitaph is the reason English has an adjective named after him. The inscription said, in French, that if he were not dead he would still be envied ("s'il n'était pas mort, il ferait encore envie"). Readers misread the last words as "encore en vie," meaning "still alive," which turned a compliment into a statement of the obvious: if he were not dead, he would still be alive. That accidental joke gave the English word "Lapalissian," formed from his name with the suffix "-ian," to describe a truism so obvious it says nothing new. The word is used for statements that are true but trivially so, such as remarking that a man who is dead is no longer living.

Synonyms: self-evident, obvious, axiomatic