What does "stereotype" mean?
A conventional, formulaic, and often oversimplified or exaggerated conception, opinion, or image of (a person or a group of people).
Stereotype
/ˈstɛɹ.i.əˌtaɪp/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A conventional, formulaic, and often oversimplified or exaggerated conception, opinion, or image of (a person or a group of people).
- Grammar: stereotype is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: academic misfit, assimilate, assimilate to, automatism.
- Useful contrasts: accuracy, diversify, individuality.
- Usage evidence: But that same principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of America. Just as Muslims do not fit a crude stereotype, America is not the crude stereotype of a self-interested empire.
How to use "stereotype"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "stereotype" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "stereotype" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "stereotype" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "stereotype" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "stereotype" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "academic misfit" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "stereotype", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A conventional, formulaic, and often oversimplified or exaggerated conception, opinion, or image of (a person or a group of people). countable, uncountable
"Not all Zumbetonians wear plimsolls. That's just a stereotype."
- 2 a conventional or formulaic conception or image wordnet
- 3 A person who is regarded as embodying or conforming to a set image or type. countable, uncountable
- 4 A metal printing plate cast from a matrix moulded from a raised printing surface. countable, uncountable
- 5 An extensibility mechanism of the Unified Modeling Language, allowing a new element to be derived from an existing one with added specializations. countable, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To make a stereotype of someone or something, or characterize someone by a stereotype. transitive
"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."
- 2 treat or classify according to a mental stereotype wordnet
- 3 To prepare for printing in stereotype; to produce stereotype plates of. transitive
"to stereotype the Bible"
- 4 To print from a stereotype. transitive
- 5 To make firm or permanent; to fix. figuratively, transitive
"Powerful causes tending to stereotype and aggravate the poverty of old conditions."
Adjective
- 1 Of an edition: printed in stereotype.
"At the present Epoch (1800), the art of Printing is become rather retrograde; or we should not hear so much of Stereotype editions. Surely the use and very principle of the invention of Printing, is to have the types moveable!"
- 2 Synonym of stereotyped. figuratively, rare
"It is an ingenious expression which I owe to you, sir, that the manners of the East are as it were stereotype. Ahhough I do not conceive that they are quite so strongly marked, yet, to make my idea understood, I would say that they are like the last impressions taken from a copper-plate engraving, where the whole of the subject to be represented is made out, although parts of it from much use have been obliterated."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"But that same principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of America. Just as Muslims do not fit a crude stereotype, America is not the crude stereotype of a self-interested empire."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "stereotype"?
Common synonyms include: academic misfit, assimilate, assimilate to, automatism, autotype, babushkas.
How do you use "stereotype" in a sentence?
But that same principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of America. Just as Muslims do not fit a crude stereotype, America is not the crude stereotype of a self-interested empire.
How do you pronounce "stereotype"?
Pronounced /ˈstɛɹ.i.əˌtaɪp/.
Etymology
Borrowed from French stéréotype (adjective), equivalent to stereo- + type. Printing sense is from 1817; the “conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image” sense is recorded from 1922 in Walter Lippmann’s book Public Opinion.