generalities

plural of generality
1
as in notions
an idea or statement about all of the members of a group or all the instances of a situation the idea that all boys are naturally messy is a gross generality

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
3

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of generalities Too often, political coverage avoids difficult questions entirely or allows politicians to speak in vague generalities without scrutiny. Letters To The Editor, Oc Register, 15 May 2026 But moving beyond these generalities to specifics is hard, says Thomas Timberlake, an ecologist at the University of York. Jonathan Lambert, NPR, 6 May 2026 Enough with the vague generalities. Jon Root Outkick, FOXNews.com, 24 Apr. 2026 Be specific Too many job ads read like form letters, full of generalities and corporate-speak. Kat Boogaard, CNBC, 15 Apr. 2026 Even questions about his rehab were met with vague generalities. Brody Miller, New York Times, 17 Feb. 2026 The obsequiousness, the sneers, the boasting, the vacant generalities, and the hand-waving bespeak fear of departing from the Trumpian orthodoxy of the moment. Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic, 29 Jan. 2026 In following her to this point, however, this long-game project gives remarkable dimension and particularity to the kind of migrant story often only told in journalistic generalities — showing, year on year, how time heals some wounds, opens others, and creates plenty of its own. Guy Lodge, Variety, 24 Jan. 2026 Observe your environment Learn to recognize generalities and patterns in your environment that, more often than not, track with pollution. Matt Fuchs, Time, 10 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for generalities
Noun
  • This was a Jean Paul Gualitier wrap that challenged traditional notions of how a top male soccer player should appear, sending the British tabloids into a hysterical spin.
    Sheena McKenzie, CNN Money, 7 June 2026
  • Ancient notions, dating back to Ptolemy, claimed that Africa was surrounded by boiling seas filled with giant creatures, whirlpools, and perpetual darkness.
    David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 2 June 2026
Noun
  • Working on a craft project, detailing a car, weeding a garden, practicing your basketball shot, lifting weights – all these activities can foster patience too.
    Christian B. Miller, The Conversation, 4 June 2026
  • Researchers defined strength training as exercises using weights or body weight, such as press ups, squats and lunges.
    Sara Moniuszko, USA Today, 4 June 2026
Noun
  • Significant majorities also do not want Trump to be able to remove a member of the Federal Reserve and want checks on the president’s ability to fire leaders of other independent agencies, according to the survey.
    Maureen Groppe, USA Today, 4 June 2026
  • Lawmakers need only simple majorities in the House and Senate to place an amendment before voters.
    Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 3 June 2026
Noun
  • Kelly had sent models down the runway wearing anything from a watermelon bra top and matching headdress to a mini dress featuring golliwog embellishments in order to reclaim some of the most offensive stereotypes that were often birthed in the American south.
    Bianca Betancourt, CNN Money, 2 June 2026
  • Yet cultural stereotypes continue to portray White athletes as less athletic, less gifted and less deserving of elite status.
    Bobby Burack OutKick, FOXNews.com, 2 June 2026
Noun
  • After defeating Chwalinska in straight sets, Andreeva took time at the end of her acceptance speech to speak Russian, seemingly in defiance of the vilification due to her ethnic heritage by the tennis governing bodies and opposing players.
    Jon Root OutKick, FOXNews.com, 7 June 2026
  • Whatever its former luxury, the boat now had cabins crammed with four-person bunks and an atmosphere thick with the scent of unwashed bodies and the steam of rations.
    Kevin Maurer, The Atlantic, 6 June 2026
Noun
  • Lestat justifies his, uh, connection with Gabriella by arguing that vampires transcend petty human concepts like conventional morality.
    Alison Herman, Variety, 7 June 2026
  • The program is bringing temporary retail concepts to vacant and underused commercial storefronts across downtown Atlanta.
    Olivia Wakim, AJC.com, 6 June 2026
Noun
  • New luxury tax thresholds were introduced, imposing punitive roster-building restrictions on big spenders, scaring teams away from keeping their championship cores intact.
    Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 7 June 2026
  • Additionally, their cores can (usually) be removed, allowing sealant to be injected through them into tubeless tires.
    New Atlas, New Atlas, 5 June 2026
Noun
  • Users could compare the two and get a window into their own conceptions of the game.
    Jack Pitt-Brooke, New York Times, 2 June 2026
  • The conservatism that would eventually hobble the daytime soap had its roots in this era, when soap viewers with especially fragile sensibilities had specific conceptions of what topics a soap should cover and made no bones about airing their protests.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 May 2026

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Generalities.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/generalities. Accessed 11 Jun. 2026.

More from Merriam-Webster on generalities

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster