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
What tech offers a lot of the time is a standard cookie cutter approach.
From BBC ● Jan. 10, 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
“What?” he said, turning from the counter where Mama had him cutting out biscuits with a cookie cutter and putting them on an oven tray.
From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce
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
So it is this week as the proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis said it will stop providing cookie-cutter recommendations to institutions on how to vote their shares in corporations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 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
After torching their rent-controlled apartment in one of their more disastrous schemes, Mac and Dennis are forced to relocate, landing in a cookie-cutter home an hour outside of Philadelphia.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2025
They were artsy misfits who dressed exclusively in concert tees and ragged flannels, and it was those brooding qualities that intrigued me more than the cookie-cutter athlete and cheerleader types.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
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.
