rubber stamp

¹

noun

1. a device with a rubber printing surface that becomes coated with ink by being pressed on an ink-saturated pad, used for imprinting dates, addresses, standard designations or notices, etc., by hand.

2. a person or government agency that gives approval automatically or routinely.

3. such approval.

rubber-stamp

²

[ruhb-er-stamp]

verb (used with object)

1. to imprint with a rubber stamp.

2. to give approval automatically or without consideration.

   to rubber-stamp the president's proposals.

adjective

1. tending to give approval automatically or without due consideration.

   a rubber-stamp Congress that passed all the president's bills.

rubber stamp

noun

1. a device used for imprinting dates or commonly used phrases on forms, invoices, etc

2. automatic authorization of a payment, proposal, etc, without challenge

3. a person who makes such automatic authorizations; a cipher or person of little account

verb

1. to imprint (forms, invoices, etc) with a rubber stamp

2. informal,  to approve automatically

Word History and Origins

Origin of rubber stamp¹

First recorded in 1885–90

Origin of rubber stamp²

First recorded in 1915–20; v. use of rubber stamp

Idioms and Phrases

A person or organization that automatically approves or endorses a policy without assessing its merit; also, such an approval or endorsement. For example, The nominating committee is merely a rubber stamp; they approve anyone the chairman names, or The dean gave his rubber stamp to the recommendations of the tenure committee. This metaphoric term alludes to the rubber printing device used to imprint the same words over and over. [Early 1900s]

Example Sentences

The piece emphasizes that Monarez was fired for maintaining scientific integrity rather than acting as a “rubber stamp” for Kennedy’s agenda.

From Los Angeles Times

Last week, he sparked a backlash when he fired the head of the CDC, Susan Monarez, who said the reason was her refusal to rubber stamp recommendations from his new vaccine panel.

From BBC

By the late 1850s, Northerners were equally fed up with the Supreme Court, which under Chief Justice Roger B. Taney was seen as a rubber stamp for slaveholders’ goals.

From Los Angeles Times

There have been voices in the SNP for some time saying that an independence vote should be a rubber stamp on the "settled will" of the people of Scotland.

From BBC

She rejected Kennedy’s characterization of the committee as a rubber stamp for vaccine makers.

From Los Angeles Times