having the same configuration or look as many others of a given kind; identical.
rows of cookie-cutter houses.
lacking individuality; stereotyped or formulaic.
a novel filled with cookie-cutter characters.
An Americanism dating back to 1900–05
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Raj agrees: "We've gone from a high-street driven, cookie cutter approach to an evolving, social media driven market."
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026
Q: We are all inundated with the cookie cutter “60/40” allocation formula… I believe a better model includes two variables which are unique to each investor: their risk tolerance and net annual expenses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 10, 2026
If parents want to do something special, Russell recommends quickly using a cookie cutter on a sandwich or adding a sticker alongside the snacks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2025
If using a ready made crust with two in a pack, roll out the second one, use a cookie cutter to make rounds to place in an oiled muffin pan for mini pies.
From Salon ● Dec. 19, 2024
Before the free relay, Ruth brought Lindsey and me plates of lime and orange Jell-O cut with a star-shaped cookie cutter.
From "The Miseducation of Cameron Post" by emily m. danforth
A cookie-cutter approach—pounding phonics for every child—might work initially, but that stalls when you need to teach someone to understand a passage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 8, 2026
Music columnist Kim Do-hoon told AFP that the Grammys had long sidelined K-pop because of what he said was its "cookie-cutter format".
From Barron's ● Feb. 2, 2026
The actor and writer from Pontypool in south Wales said she found her diagnosis "tricky" at first, partly because of the "cookie-cutter" way autism was portrayed in the media.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2025
The bit of machine learning-assisted, Chainsmokers-style fluff lays a processed voice repeating the phrase “Don’t tap the glass” over some cookie-cutter swelling synths and a festival-ready drop.
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2025
Founded in 1948, it was, in many ways, meant to be the paragon of suburban life, with mass-produced houses and cookie-cutter yards.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
