stereotype 1 of 2

Definition of stereotypenext
as in concept
an idea or statement about all of the members of a group or all the instances of a situation the noble savage was a stereotype that appealed to 18th-century intellectuals, who viewed European civilization as decadent and corrupt

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
as in to overuse
to use so much as to make less appealing Movies have stereotyped the domineering mother-in-law ad nauseam.

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 stereotype
Noun
The thing that Fran Leibowitz says is that stereotypes tend to be true. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 25 Sep. 2026 These defenses rest on antisemitic undertones and give license to more obvious antisemitic stereotypes. — Kenneth L. Marcus, New York Daily News, 25 Sep. 2026
Verb
For every identity that is stereotyped or marginalized in mainstream pop culture, there are thousands, if not millions, of very different people whose individuality gets erased in the process. — Judy Berman, Time, 11 Aug. 2026 Sleep apnea is still stereotyped as affecting older, overweight men, which means women’s more subtle symptoms are often not thoroughly investigated by doctors. — Hanna Wickes, Miami Herald, 4 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for stereotype
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stereotype
Noun
  • Advances in electrical power systems, tracking technology, beam control and compact high-energy lasers are making the concept increasingly practical.
    — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Though the idea proved nearly impossible to fully realize, the concept of a more fluid, non-rigid weaving style became central to Wiener’s practice.
    — Francesca Aton, ARTnews.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • There are a handful of very effective jump scares, especially early on, but Cregger wisely doesn’t overuse them.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 22 Sep. 2026
  • But 1984 is continuously overused by fans as evidence of what the program can achieve.
    — The Athletic College Football Staff, New York Times, 16 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • Legal experts on the other side question the notion that a public nuisance can be defined so broadly to include both the sale of a legal product and the impact on carbon pollution, much of it coming from China and India.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Attorney General Todd Blanche on Sunday rejected the idea that election monitors being deployed to polls during the midterm elections will be armed, categorizing the notion as fearmongering and false.
    — Claire Carter, The Washington Examiner, 4 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • His versions were full-blooded, with lush strings and reasonably large orchestras — and, purists alleged — vulgarizing distortions.
    — BostonGlobe.com, BostonGlobe.com, 28 Oct. 2019
Noun
  • Risk, legal and compliance leaders belong in the room from the moment of conception, not the approval stage.
    — Olufunsho Peters, Forbes.com, 2 Oct. 2026
  • The first is the art history of the work, which includes its conception, its construction, and its place within Serra’s practice overall.
    — Jeffrey Weiss, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Powerful cutters have whirred to life on a giant drill that will begin boring a new train tunnel under the Hudson River connecting Manhattan to New Jersey.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 29 Sep. 2026
  • The twin tubes, bored at a rate of roughly 30 feet per day, will take about a year to dig.
    — Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News, 28 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • Contrary to the traditional labor theory of value, which calculates the value of a good or service through the amount of labor required to produce it, Poliks and Trillo posit latency and delay to be the true sources of value.
    — Sophie Landres, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Such questions are critical to a long-standing puzzle of percolation theory, a subfield of probability theory focused on the permeability of networks.
    — Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 30 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Keurig’s new single-serve coffee machine delivers the same convenience that helped popularize its appliances but without the use of recyclable pods made from plastic and aluminum.
    — Andrew Liszewski, The Verge, 2 Oct. 2026
  • As the author of A Theory of Semiotics (1976) and Semiotics and the Philosophy of Language (1984), Eco did more than any other scholar to establish and popularize the field in his home country.
    — Bartolomeo Sala, The Dial, 29 Sep. 2026

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Stereotype.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stereotype. Accessed 7 Oct. 2026.

More from Merriam-Webster on stereotype

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