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.
Most 10-Qs are cookie cutter documents disclosing financial figures already embedded in corporate records.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 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 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
The problem was a bit like predicting what direction a small circle of sheetcake is pointing, before twisting a round cookie cutter in to pull out a piece.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 4, 2024
Then there are the cookies, cut into rather awkward stars because I don’t have a cookie cutter.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
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
A handful of trial firms are leading the charge, specializing in cookie-cutter cases that claim operators aren’t administering plans for the “sole benefit” of workers—alleging excessive investment or recordkeeping fees, or deficient investment performance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2025
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
More tightly organized and military minded than Tiwanaku, the rulers of Wari stamped out cookie-cutter fortresses and stationed them all along their borders.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
