stock character

noun

1. a character in literature, theater, or film of a type quickly recognized and accepted by the reader or viewer and requiring no development by the writer.

Word History and Origins

Origin of stock character¹

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

If we go along with the story at all, it’s thanks to Fanning, who resists the temptation of softening the edges of her stock character — a guilt-ridden young woman who hides behind a detached facade because “you wouldn’t like me if you knew the real me” — while also making the standoffish Mina worth caring for.

From New York Times

Introducing another stock character: the Rich American.

From Literature

It lingers in the familiar stock character of the cringeworthy geek like Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory, and in biographer Walter Issacson’s descriptions of entrepreneur Elon Musk—who claimed to be on the spectrum on Saturday Night Live—as “hardwired” against empathy.

From Scientific American

Mama, as the stern but loving matriarch, is a stock character, and Sissy is written unsympathetically and almost exclusively speaks in the tenor of a whine.

From New York Times

Likewise, underneath your CMO’s gendered moniker is a stock character we’ve seen throughout history in various guises: an arrogant, delusional, hypercritical bully, devoid of self-awareness or empathy, using a bombastic personality to either charm followers or bludgeon dissenters.

From Washington Post

Related Words

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