central casting

noun

: the department of a movie studio responsible for casting actors especially viewed as a source of people who are stereotypical of their role in appearance, behavior, or nature
a politician right out of central casting

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web The search produced Jeff Banister, straight out of central casting, talking with Texas grit and offering up blood-and-guts analogies. Evan Grant, Dallas News, 23 Mar. 2023 The senior staff appear to be straight out of central casting, Gallic division. Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 10 Feb. 2023 Rees-Jones could be from central casting for the movie Giant, Perot said. Dallas News, 10 Mar. 2022 With the even demeanor of a judge and hair already silver, Cornyn looked and sounded like a senator from central casting, as out-of-state news media loved to say. Dallas News, 27 June 2022 Hapless rebels which seem out of central casting for a dark military comedy like Tropic Thunder. Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 7 Apr. 2011 At the start of his career, Mr. Smith was a Justice Department lawyer out of central casting, a clean-cut prosecutor from upstate New York who played well in front of juries. Alan Feuer, New York Times, 19 Nov. 2022 And now, here is this man who’s straight out of central casting with his suspenders stretched over his belly and plaid shirt in the middle of summer. Claudia Hinz, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 Nov. 2022 Is something shifting in the zeitgeist that lives people of color women, anybody from not from central casting, more likely to succeed now? Fortune Editors, Fortune, 11 Aug. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'central casting.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1941, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of central casting was in 1941

Dictionary Entries Near central casting

Cite this Entry

“Central casting.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/central%20casting. Accessed 7 Jun. 2023.

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