boilerplate
noun
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Boilerplate in Print
In the days before computers, small newspapers around the U.S. relied heavily on feature stories, editorials, and other printed material supplied by large publishing syndicates. The syndicates delivered that copy on metal plates with the type already in place so the local papers wouldn't have to set it. Printers apparently dubbed those syndicated plates "boiler plates" because of their resemblance to the plating used in making steam boilers. Soon boilerplate came to refer to the printed material on the plates as well as to the plates themselves. Because boilerplate stories were often more filler—material used to fill extra space in a column or page of a newspaper to increase its size—than important or informative news, the word acquired negative connotations and gained the "standardized or formulaic language" sense widely used today.
Examples of boilerplate in a Sentence
Julian Chokkattu, Wired News, 8 Oct. 2025
Hegseth’s speech had a lot of boilerplate of the sort that would show up in any speech.
—Peter D. Feaver, Foreign Affairs, 1 Oct. 2025
The Department of Justice’s own news release contained the usual boilerplate about an indictment being merely an allegation and the presumption of innocence that all defendants enjoy—legal niceties that struck a particularly disingenuous note in light of Trump’s triumphalism.
—Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2025
Engineers can offload repetitive boilerplate and documentation tasks, freeing them to focus on architecture and system reliability.
—Malana Vantyler, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for boilerplate
Cite this Entry
“Boilerplate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boilerplate. Accessed 21 Oct. 2025.
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boilerplate
noun
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