stereotype

[ster-ee-uh-tahyp, steer-]

noun

1. a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group.

   Cowboys and Indians are American stereotypes.

2. a set form; convention.

   Most important for lexicographers are the idiomatic stereotypes whose meaning cannot be inferred from knowledge of the meanings of the individual items.

3. Printing.

   1. a process, now often replaced by more advanced methods, for making metal printing plates by taking a mold of composed type or the like in papier-mâché or other material and then taking from this mold a cast in type metal.

   2. a plate made by this process.

verb (used with object)

stereotyped, stereotyping 

1. to characterize or regard as a stereotype.

   The actor has been stereotyped as a villain.

   Synonyms: typecast, label, categorize

2. to give a fixed form to.

3. Printing.,  to make a stereotype of.

stereotype

/ ˌstɛrɪə ˈtɪpɪk, ˌstɪər-, ˈstɛrɪəˌtaɪp, ˈstɪər- /

noun

1. 1. a method of producing cast-metal printing plates from a mould made from a forme of type matter in papier-mâché or some other material

   2. the plate so made

2. another word for stereotypy

3. an idea, trait, convention, etc, that has grown stale through fixed usage

4. sociol a set of inaccurate, simplistic generalizations about a group that allows others to categorize them and treat them accordingly

verb

1. 1. to make a stereotype of

   2. to print from a stereotype

2. to impart a fixed usage or convention to

stereotype

¹

1. A too-simple and therefore distorted image of a group, such as “Football players are stupid” or “The English are cold and unfriendly people.”

stereotype

²

1. A generalization, usually exaggerated or oversimplified and often offensive, that is used to describe or distinguish a group.

Other Word Forms

• stereotyper noun
• stereotypist noun
• stereotypical adjective
• stereotypic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of stereotype¹

First recorded in 1790–1800; stereo- + -type

Example Sentences

But she raised an important point about how she didn’t want to be portrayed simply as an angry Black woman — an onscreen stereotype — and that her reasons for getting upset with Edmond were valid.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“Not to stereotype, but it’s usually the sneaker sales that get out of hand.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Her journey shattered long-standing norms in an art form historically dominated by white dancers, challenging stereotypes about body type, ethnicity, and “who belongs” in classical ballet.

Read more on Salon

There’s a long list of racist stereotypes white people fish out of the bottom drawer to slander Black people, and in her post Swiatkowski throws out a few of them.

Read more on Salon

The triumphs of the civil-rights movement made many overt forms of anti-Jewish discrimination illegal, but laws could not eliminate bigotry and stereotyping.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• pattern