phatic /ˈfætɪk/adjective 1noun 1forms 3 adjective1 •Pertaining to words used to convey any kind of social relationship and whose meaning is otherwise either deemphasized or absent.You needn't be angry about the insincerity of shopkeepers' how-are-you greetings. Well-adjusted people understand that the question is phatic in the context and that that's usually no problem.Some dialects of a language may use a certain term or phrase in a phatic way, even if other dialects don't. noun1 •A phatic utterance. formsphatics · more phatic · most phatic
