generalizations

noun

plural of generalization
as in notions
an idea or statement about all of the members of a group or all the instances of a situation the generalization that children who like violent entertainment grow up to be violent criminals

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 generalizations At last week’s meeting, though, Warsh spoke largely in platitudes and generalizations. — John Cassidy, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026 Some called out the statement for making sweeping generalizations about Phish fans, especially when most of the crowd was all kind vibes. — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 14 July 2026 That includes everything from feeding the lie that Obama was not born in the United States to crude generalizations about majority-Black countries and posts that have sparked anger on his Truth Social website. — Will Weissert, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026 Brousson is an Austin resident and often posts satirical videos teasing Texas cliches and generalizations. — Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 June 2026 Teenagers are tested on more advanced skills, such as making generalizations from a reading passage and comparing information from charts and graphs. — ABC News, 10 June 2026 Of course, if the AI does generalize, the difficulty is that the AI generalizations about mental health might be off base. — Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026 Most leaders can’t afford to wait weeks for insights that could inform their next move, and can revert to relying on generalizations to guide them as a result. — Alex Cooper, Fortune, 16 May 2026 Parachute Journalism Parachute journalism refers to the practice of briefly visiting a location, observing limited aspects of it, and subsequently producing articles that may rely on broad generalizations about the destination. — Suzanne Dundas, Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for generalizations
  1. notions
  2. stereotypes
  3. concepts
  4. conceptions
Noun
  • What happens after that is committed to the good common sense of the client who usually leaves that office with only vague notions about what has been done so far and what needs to be done in the future.
    — Jay Adkisson, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Right’s multiculturalism Meanwhile, the American right was increasingly united less by biological notions of race and more by opposition to multiculturalism, feminism, LGBTQ+ rights, immigration and liberalism.
    — Eladio Bobadilla, Mercury News, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of notions
Noun
  • Soon after those 2011 protests, Brand Modi was carefully marketed on television channels and burgeoning social media platforms as the redemptive opposite of the images, associations, and stereotypes attached to the corrupt and feckless system.
    — Asim Ali, Time, 1 Aug. 2026
  • Many of my previous columns have stressed the importance of pushing back on the (often negative) stereotypes of aging.
    — Jann E. Freed, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
Definition of stereotypes
Noun
  • Through the mid-1980s, Wolfram continued this work, discovering a number of fundamental connections between computation and nature, and inventing such concepts as computational irreducibility.
    — Big Think, Big Think, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Over the past few years, Boots has been delving into its extensive data to test and try products and began introducing stand-alone beauty retail concepts, the latest of which opened in Bristol earlier this month.
    — Samantha Conti, Footwear News, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of concepts
Noun
  • Are such dichotomous conceptions of the novel mutually exclusive?
    — Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 8 July 2026
  • The thread of citizen rights and responsibilities weaves through each of these, uniting evolving conceptions of freedom, self-government, and individual achievement from the nation’s past through to its present.
    — The Christian Science Monitor, Christian Science Monitor, 4 July 2026
Definition of conceptions

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generalizations
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Cite this Entry

“Generalizations.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/generalizations. Accessed 10 Aug. 2026.

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