Meaning & use
stereotype
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Meanings
nouncountable
A widely held but oversimplified and fixed idea about a particular type of person or thing.
Grammar: Countable; plural stereotypes. Often followed by of or that: the stereotype of the lazy student.
Patterns
- a gender stereotype
- challenge a stereotype
- fit a stereotype
- the stereotype of someone
The article challenges the stereotype that boys are naturally better at math.
He hates the stereotype of the lazy student and works hard.
Comedies often rely on stereotypes of strict teachers.
verbtransitive
To view or judge a person or group according to a fixed, oversimplified idea.
Grammar: Takes an object; fixed pattern stereotype someone as something.
Patterns
- stereotype someone as something
- stereotype a group
It is unfair to stereotype all young drivers as reckless.
The study looks at how the media stereotypes older people.
Don't stereotype her just because of her accent.
Word forms
| third person singular | stereotypes |
|---|---|
| past tense | stereotyped |
| past participle | stereotyped |
| -ing form | stereotyping |
Common combinations
- challenge a stereotype
- The documentary challenges the stereotype of the helpless retiree.
- gender stereotype
- The toys reinforce old gender stereotypes.
- fit a stereotype
- He hates fitting the stereotype of the absent-minded professor.
- stereotype someone as something
- It's lazy to stereotype gamers as teenagers.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cliché
- An overused expression or idea, especially in art and writing; a stereotype targets groups of people, not phrases.
- generalization
- A broad statement that may be statistically true; a stereotype is fixed, oversimplified, and usually unfair.
- caricature
- A deliberately exaggerated portrait of a person or type; stronger on distortion than on being widely believed.
Word family
- stereotypical adjective
- Based on or matching a stereotype: a stereotypical villain.
- stereotypically adverb
- In a stereotypical way.
Commonly confused: stereotype or archetype?
stereotype vs archetype
An archetype is the original model or typical example of something, often neutral or positive; a stereotype is a fixed, oversimplified belief about a group.
Practice
The guidelines warn managers against ___ candidates based on their age.
Choose one answer.
Here a verb needs an object meaning to judge people by a fixed idea, and stereotype takes a direct object: stereotype candidates. Renege is intransitive and needs on a promise; divine means to sense by intuition; journey means to travel.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “stereotype”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.