stereotype

[ ster-ee-uh-tahyp, steer- ]

noun

1. a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group:

   Cowboys and Indians are American stereotypes.

2. a set form; convention:

   Most important for lexicographers are the idiomatic stereotypes whose meaning cannot be inferred from knowledge of the meanings of the individual items.

3. Printing.
   1. a process, now often replaced by more advanced methods, for making metal printing plates by taking a mold of composed type or the like in papier-mâché or other material and then taking from this mold a cast in type metal.
   2. a plate made by this process.

verb (used with object)

, ster·e·o·typed, ster·e·o·typ·ing.

1. to characterize or regard as a stereotype:

   The actor has been stereotyped as a villain.

   Synonyms: typecast, label, categorize

2. to give a fixed form to.
3. Printing. to make a stereotype of.

stereotype

/ ˌstɛrɪə ˈtɪpɪk; ˌstɪər-; ˈstɛrɪəˌtaɪp; ˈstɪər- /

noun

1. 1. a method of producing cast-metal printing plates from a mould made from a forme of type matter in papier-mâché or some other material
   2. the plate so made
2. another word for stereotypy
3. an idea, trait, convention, etc, that has grown stale through fixed usage
4. sociol a set of inaccurate, simplistic generalizations about a group that allows others to categorize them and treat them accordingly

verb

1. 1. to make a stereotype of
   2. to print from a stereotype
2. to impart a fixed usage or convention to

stereotype

¹

1. A too-simple and therefore distorted image of a group, such as “Football players are stupid” or “The English are cold and unfriendly people.”

stereotype

²

1. A generalization, usually exaggerated or oversimplified and often offensive, that is used to describe or distinguish a group.

Derived Forms

• ˈstereoˌtyper, noun
• stereotypic, adjective

Other Words From

• ster·e·o·typ·er ster·e·o·typ·ist noun
• ster·e·o·typ·i·cal ster·e·o·typ·ic [ster-ee-, uh, -, tip, -ik, steer-], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of stereotype¹

First recorded in 1790–1800; stereo- + -type

Example Sentences

Nicola added: "People do pigeon hole us. I want to breakdown that stereotype, I have a full and happy life."

From BBC

But the stereotype of romance-hungry women and love-reluctant men doesn't reflect reality.

From Salon

We should break the stereotype that it is only curry — that’s not true.

From Salon

Vimal says there's a stereotype that British Asian parents prefer their children to focus on their school work.

From BBC

To suggest that a Black person is lazy is a very old white racist stereotype that has its origins in white on Black chattel slavery and the American apartheid system that deemed Black people as incapable of full citizenship, “natural” slaves, childlike and members of a subordinate and inferior group that was unfit for freedom.

From Salon

Related Words

• pattern