stereotypy

[ ster-ee-uh-tahy-pee, steer- ]

noun

the stereotype process.
Also called stereotyped behavior. Psychiatry. persistent mechanical repetition of speech or movement, sometimes occurring as a symptom of schizophrenia, autism, or other mental disorder.

Origin of stereotypy

First recorded in 1860–65; stereotype + -y³

Words Nearby stereotypy

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use stereotypy in a sentence

More akin to the tics is stereotypy of written language, so common an appanage of mental disease.
Tics and Their Treatment | Henry Meigne
stereotypy and perseveration are other evidences of this narrowness of thought content.
Benign Stupors | August Hoch
Grazia Deledda was displaying stereotypy and Zuccoli reploughed the familiar acre.
Idling in Italy | Joseph Collins
It indicates a tendency to mental stereotypy, so frequently encountered in testing the feeble-minded.
The Measurement of Intelligence | Lewis Madison Terman

British Dictionary definitions for stereotypy

stereotypy

/ (ˈstɛrɪəˌtaɪpɪ, ˈstɪər-) /

noun

the act or process of making stereotype printing plates
a tendency to think or act in rigid, repetitive, and often meaningless patterns

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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