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deepity

A proposition that seems to be profound because it is actually logically ill-formed. A deepity balances precariously between multiple interpretations, at least one of which is obvious and trivial and at least one of which would be earth-shaking except that it is false.

A: Love is just a word.

B: What a bogus deepity. "Love" is just a word; any word is just a word. Love, whatever it is -- whether it is an emotion, a state of being, an evolutionary adaptation, an illusion promoted by romantic novelists -- it is not "just a word."

by mississippigoddamn July 18, 2010

88👍 4👎


Deepity

Something that sounds profound but intellectually hollow.
Usually has the following characteristics. 1. True but trivial 2. False but logically ill informed. 3. Usually a use-mention error or (UME)

Made famous by Daniel Dennett.

"Love is just a word" is a deepity.

"God is the God beyond Gods." is a deepity.

He just said a deepity.

What a deepity.

by rutabaga November 1, 2009

130👍 20👎