stereotype

[ster-ee-uh-tahyp, steer-]

noun

1. a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group.

   Cowboys and Indians are American stereotypes.

2. a set form; convention.

   Most important for lexicographers are the idiomatic stereotypes whose meaning cannot be inferred from knowledge of the meanings of the individual items.

3. Printing.

   1. a process, now often replaced by more advanced methods, for making metal printing plates by taking a mold of composed type or the like in papier-mâché or other material and then taking from this mold a cast in type metal.

   2. a plate made by this process.

verb (used with object)

stereotyped, stereotyping 

1. to characterize or regard as a stereotype.

   The actor has been stereotyped as a villain.

   Synonyms: typecast, label, categorize

2. to give a fixed form to.

3. Printing.,  to make a stereotype of.

stereotype

/ ˌstɛrɪə ˈtɪpɪk, ˌstɪər-, ˈstɛrɪəˌtaɪp, ˈstɪər- /

noun

1. 1. a method of producing cast-metal printing plates from a mould made from a forme of type matter in papier-mâché or some other material

   2. the plate so made

2. another word for stereotypy

3. an idea, trait, convention, etc, that has grown stale through fixed usage

4. sociol a set of inaccurate, simplistic generalizations about a group that allows others to categorize them and treat them accordingly

verb

1. 1. to make a stereotype of

   2. to print from a stereotype

2. to impart a fixed usage or convention to

stereotype

¹

1. A too-simple and therefore distorted image of a group, such as “Football players are stupid” or “The English are cold and unfriendly people.”

stereotype

²

1. A generalization, usually exaggerated or oversimplified and often offensive, that is used to describe or distinguish a group.

Other Word Forms

• stereotyper noun
• stereotypist noun
• stereotypical adjective
• stereotypic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of stereotype¹

First recorded in 1790–1800; stereo- + -type

Example Sentences

They are helping destroy the stereotype that City Section football is lacking in talent.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"I think it's really important in women's spaces that we don't stereotype," she said.

Read more on BBC

Ms Fielding, now 41, said she was challenging "outdated stereotypes" about the condition, particularly that it only affects older people or people who smoke.

Read more on BBC

Equally important, she said, is finding methods that do not stereotype.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Autistic people are often stereotyped as unable to read other people, Morgan said, but neurotypical people often have just as hard a time accurately interpreting an autistic person’s emotional state.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• pattern