sweeping generalization

Meaning

1. 1nouncountable

   A broad claim that treats a whole group or situation as the same, without enough evidence or allowance for exceptions.

   Grammar: Countable: make a sweeping generalization, avoid sweeping generalizations.

   Patterns

   • a sweeping generalization about something
   • make a sweeping generalization

   Saying that all teenagers are lazy is a sweeping generalization.

   The report avoids sweeping generalizations and looks at each region separately.

   I know it is a sweeping generalization, but most of my friends prefer cooking at home.

Word forms

Common combinations

make a sweeping generalization

It is easy to make a sweeping generalization after meeting only two people.

avoid sweeping generalizations

Good historians avoid sweeping generalizations about whole centuries.

dismiss as a sweeping generalization

The minister dismissed the claim as a sweeping generalization.

a sweeping generalization about

That is a sweeping generalization about people from the countryside.

bit of a sweeping generalization

That is a bit of a sweeping generalization, isn't it?

Synonyms and how they differ

overgeneralization

Overgeneralization stresses that the claim goes too far, while sweeping generalization adds the idea of covering a huge range.

stereotype

A stereotype is a fixed picture of a type of person, whereas a sweeping generalization can be about anything, such as events or places.

blanket statement

A blanket statement is a rule applied to everything, and is a little more neutral in tone.

Opposites

Word family

generalize verb

to form or state a general idea from particular cases

generalization noun

a general statement drawn from specific cases

general adjective

applying to most or all cases

generally adverb

in most cases

Commonly confused: sweeping generalization or sweeping statement?

Practice

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