Stereotype

/ˈstɛ.ɹi.əˌtaɪp/ · noun

Meaning

A conventional, formulaic, and often oversimplified or exaggerated conception, opinion, or image of (a person or a group of people)..

Definitions by Sense

1. A conventional, formulaic, and often oversimplified or exaggerated conception, opinion, or image of (a person or a group of people).
2. (psychology) A person who is regarded as embodying or conforming to a set image or type.
3. (printing) A metal printing plate cast from a matrix moulded from a raised printing surface.
4. (software engineering) An extensibility mechanism of the Unified Modeling Language, allowing a new element to be derived from an existing one with added specializations.
5. (transitive) To make a stereotype of someone or something, or characterize someone by a stereotype.
6. (transitive, printing) To prepare for printing in stereotype; to produce stereotype plates of.
7. (transitive, printing) To print from a stereotype.
8. (transitive, figurative) To make firm or permanent; to fix.

Example Sentences

Not all Zumbetonians wear plimsolls. That's just a stereotype.

Instead we notice a trait which marks a well known type, and fill in the rest of the picture by means of the stereotypes we carry about in our heads.

Anthropologists studying aid agencies have found that stereotypes and deindividualization are endemic among those in refugee work. It may be inevitable that large assistance organizations tend to objectify, simplify, and universalize the people under their care.

So, although to some observers machine music implies a harsh metronomicity – and some sectors of electronic dance music might be the stereotype here – computers can also be the means of investigating human expression.

“Psychotherapists are not immune to the same stereotypes that we all have, and I think they could become even more relevant for psychotherapists than for other professions [both medical and nonmedical], because they are embarking on this intimate, potentially long-term relationship with these [clients],” said Heather Kugelmass, a doctoral student in sociology at Princeton University. Kugelmass is the author of the study (PDF), which was published Wednesday in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

Heartwarming: Trans girl breaks stereotypes by being the worst on the girls swim team

So, here are my top 10 tips on how you can avoid the “stupid American” stereotype and become a “Smart American” abroad.

Unable to ascertain what is in the minds of so many individuals, he must try to simplify his problems by eliminating individual differences: he must try to control and stereotype interests and beliefs by education and propaganda.

Synonyms for stereotype

Antonyms for stereotype

Related Words

Word Forms

• stereotypes
• stereotyping
• stereotyped

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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