Etymology

Adjective

1. Pertaining to words used to convey any kind of social relationship e.g polite mood, rather than meaning; for example, "How are you?" is often not a literal question but is said only as a greeting. (Similarly, a response such as "Fine" is often not an accurate answer, but merely an acknowledgement of the greeting.)
   • 1978, Anthony Burgess, 1985:

     Generally speaking, statements in WE are expected to be of a tautologous nature, thus fulfilling the essential phatic nature of speech.

   • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage 2007, p. 467:

     Dispensing with phatic chitchat, he began straightaway to tell the story of his “people.”