stereotypy
Americannoun
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the stereotype process.
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Also called stereotyped behavior. Psychiatry. persistent mechanical repetition of speech or movement, sometimes occurring as a symptom of schizophrenia, autism, or other mental disorder.
noun
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the act or process of making stereotype printing plates
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a tendency to think or act in rigid, repetitive, and often meaningless patterns
Etymology
Origin of stereotypy
First recorded in 1860–65; stereotype + -y 3
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At first blush, such spinning might look like a stereotypy, a repeated movement that some animals make when bored.
From Scientific American • Mar. 28, 2023
For example, one macaque developed "severe behavioural problems" including "stereotypy" - repetitive nervous actions such as rocking - and had to be "euthanised".
From BBC • Jul. 31, 2014
Virga knew that he wasn’t likely to cure her — she had been prone to stereotypy and anxiety throughout her life.
From New York Times • Jul. 3, 2014
Farts lack the structural stereotypy of laughs, coughs, sneezes, and hiccups, and their duration is determined by the highly variable supply of available gas.
From Salon • Aug. 23, 2012
Shortly after confinement began, he became stuporous, being mute and negativistic, soiling, refusing food and showing stereotypy.
From Benign Stupors A Study of a New Manic-Depressive Reaction Type by MacCurdy, John T. (John Thompson)
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.
