blanket statements

Meaning

1. 1nounplural

   Broad claims that treat every case alike and ignore differences or exceptions between individual cases.

   Grammar: This is the plural of blanket statement: one blanket statement, several blanket statements.

   Patterns

   • make blanket statements about something
   • blanket statements on something

   Teachers should avoid blanket statements such as all teenagers dislike reading.

   The report is full of blanket statements that the data does not support.

   She warned the group against blanket statements about foreign cuisine.

Word forms

Common combinations

make blanket statements

It is risky to make blanket statements about how people learn.

sweeping blanket statements

The speech was full of sweeping blanket statements.

avoid blanket statements

A careful writer will avoid blanket statements.

blanket statements about something

He disliked blanket statements about whole nations.

Synonyms and how they differ

generalizations

Generalizations can be sensible and carefully qualified, while blanket statements are usually criticized as too broad.

sweeping claims

Sweeping claims stresses how large the claim is, not that it ignores exceptions.

overgeneralizations

This is a more formal term that states plainly that the claim goes too far.

stereotypes

Stereotypes are fixed pictures of a group, while blanket statements can concern any topic.

Opposites

Word family

blanket adjective

covering everything without exception

statement noun

something said or written

generalize verb

to make a broad claim from limited cases

generalization noun

a broad claim

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “blanket statements”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words