generalization

noun gen·er·al·i·za·tion \ ˌjen-rə-lə-ˈzā-shən , ˌje-nə- \

|Updated on: 24 Jun 2018

Examples: generalization in a Sentence

Definition of generalization

1 : the act or process of generalizing

2 : a general statement, law, principle, or proposition

made broad generalizations about women

3 : the act or process whereby a learned response is made to a stimulus similar to but not identical with the conditioned stimulus

See generalization defined for English-language learners

See generalization defined for kids

Examples of generalization in a Sentence

He made several sweeping generalizations about women.
She was prone to generalization.

Recent Examples of generalization from the Web

All of it involves gross generalizations that don’t take into account the perspective of the woman.

— rebecca farley, refinery29.com, "Now Is A Great Time To Revisit John Mulaney's "Ocean's Eleven With Women" Joke," 30 May 2018
After that, many generalizations followed: newer versions of the counterfeit coin problem included finding multiple fake coins, differentiating between coins of arbitrary weights, and so on.

— nicholas diaco, Scientific American, "Privacy and Counterfeit Coins," 20 Mar. 2018
The best that could be hoped for would be some broad generalizations about peaceful use of cyberspace, which might be sandwiched in a larger statement about good relations between the two sides.

— derek hawkins, Washington Post, "The Cybersecurity 202: North Korea is even less likely to give up hacking than nukes," 1 June 2018
Now, the false generalizations are harder to refute.

— monique judge, The Root, "Bill O’Reilly Blames Roseanne for Proving That White Racism Is Alive and Well in America," 31 May 2018
Not to make a broad generalization, but men, especially in America, tend to keep their outfits pretty minimalistic for red-carpet events.

— devon abelman, Allure, "EXO's Kai Brought K-Pop Style to Gucci Cruise With This Stunning, Veil-Like Headband," 31 May 2018
The generalization takes away from the bite of the observation.

— refinery29.com, "Chvrches Kill Love, Bring On Political Discourse On Latest Album," 25 May 2018
Some Critics were quick to point to the fact that these comments were broad, and arguably racist, generalizations about a group of heavily Latino immigrants.

— zack beauchamp, Vox, "What John Kelly really means when he says immigrants don’t “assimilate”," 11 May 2018
Moreover, the Zee and Faith chapters feel somewhat perfunctory, with long stretches of exposition, so that years of change whoosh by on generalizations.

— amy gentry, chicagotribune.com, "Review: 'The Female Persuasion' by Meg Wolitzer," 26 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'generalization.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of generalization

generalize + -ation

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1761

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

generalization Synonyms

Synonyms

concept, conception, generality, notion, stereotype;

adage, proverb, saw, saying;

oversimplification, simplification;

GENERALIZATION Defined for English Language Learners

generalization

noun

Definition of generalization for English Language Learners

: a general statement : a statement about a group of people or things that is based on only a few people or things in that group
: the act or process of forming opinions that are based on a small amount of information