boilerplate

American  

[boi-ler-pleyt] / ˈbɔɪ lərˌpleɪt /

Or boiler plate

noun

1. plating of iron or steel for making the shells of boilers, covering the hulls of ships, etc.

2. Journalism.

   1. syndicated or ready-to-print copy, used especially by weekly newspapers.

   2. trite, hackneyed writing.

3. the detailed standard wording of a contract, warranty, etc.

4. Informal. phrases or units of text used repeatedly, as in correspondence produced by a word-processing system.

5. frozen, crusty, hard-packed snow, often with icy patches.

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boilerplate British  

/ ˈbɔɪləˌpleɪt /

noun

1. a form of mild-steel plate used in the production of boiler shells

2. a copy made with the intention of making other copies from it

3. a set of instructions incorporated in several places in a computer program or a standard form of words used repeatedly in drafting contracts, guarantees, etc

4. a draft contract that can easily be modified to cover various types of transaction

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verb

1. to incorporate standard material automatically in a text

Usage

What does boilerplate mean? A boilerplate is text that will be used repeatedly, often word for word, and relied on as standard wording. Boilerplate is commonly used to describe the repeated wording a company or an organization will use in all of its contracts, press releases, or similar documents, as in The buyer foolishly ignored the boilerplate at the end of the legal agreement. It can also be used as a modifier, as in boilerplate language. While boilerplates will be different depending on who’s using them, the idea behind them is to have an easy-to-use standard or pattern (template) that can be easily copied for reuse over and over. Often, someone will make small changes to the boilerplate or fill in blanks left for this purpose rather than use the exact boilerplate. Because boilerplates are designed to be easily reused, the term boilerplate is sometimes mockingly used to label an answer or explanation as a canned response that a person didn’t even think about. Boilerplate was originally used (and still is) to refer to a mass-produced iron or steel plating used for the shells of boilers or other machinery. Boilerplate can also be spelled boiler plate. Example: All of the company’s press releases ended with a boilerplate containing the company motto and a detailed outline of its products and services.

Etymology

Origin of boilerplate

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

A case in point: Americans who filed tax returns last month might recall the irony of printing out a line of boilerplate about the good ol’ “Paperwork Reduction Act.”

From The Wall Street Journal • May 12, 2026

“In a market where the number of applicants per job is up, a boilerplate resume sent to 50 jobs isn’t going to cut it,” Puri said.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 14, 2026

Mitu Gulati explains how the pervasive use of boilerplate contracts is creating a legal crisis.

From Slate • Mar. 17, 2026

Cursor, an AI start-up, is seeing accelerating demand for its programming assistant, which enables programmers to autocomplete code, fix bugs faster, and automate boilerplate tasks.

From Barron's • Dec. 30, 2025

I felt like a kind of human periwinkle encased in boilerplate and frozen with cold and funk.

From Carnacki, the Ghost Finder by Hodgson, William Hope

Related Words

• accepted
• basic
• classic
• common
• definitive
• normal
• typical
• usual