pleas ‧ ant ‧ ry /ˈplez ə ntri/ BrE AmE noun ( plural pleasantries ) [countable usually plural] formal
[ Word Family: adjective : ↑ pleasant ≠ ↑ unpleasant , ↑ pleased ≠ ↑ displeased , ↑ pleasing ≠ ↑ displeasing , ↑ pleasurable ; adverb : ↑ pleasantly ≠ ↑ unpleasantly , ↑ pleasingly , ↑ pleasurably ; noun : ↑ pleasantry , ↑ pleasure ≠ ↑ displeasure ; verb : ↑ please ≠ ↑ displease ]
things that you say to someone in order to be polite, but which are not very important:
Stephen and Mr Illing exchanged pleasantries.