stereotype
A simple and fixed idea that many people have about a group of people, which often is not true for every person in that group.
A widely held, oversimplified and fixed idea about a particular type of person or group, often ignoring individual differences and often unfair or negative.
A person who seems to be exactly like the usual stereotype of their group.
A person whose appearance, behavior, or lifestyle strongly matches a common stereotype.
To decide what a person is like because of a stereotype about their group, instead of seeing them as an individual.
To unfairly or unthinkingly judge, describe, or treat a person based on stereotypes about a group they belong to.
A metal plate used in old printing, made from a copy of arranged letters, so that many pages can be printed the same.
In traditional printing, a solid plate of metal made by casting from a mold of typeset text or images, used to print many identical copies.
- Base: stereotype
- Plural: stereotypes
- Base: stereotype
- 3rd Person Singular: stereotypes
- Present Participle: stereotyping
- Past: stereotyped
be a stereotype
1Be just like the stereotype
To be very similar to the usual stereotype of a group.
- I know I am a stereotype, but I really do love coffee and laptops in cafés.
- He jokes that he is a stereotype of a boring accountant.
break the stereotype
1Show a stereotype is not true
To behave or give examples that prove a common stereotype is not always true.
- She became a mechanic and broke the stereotype that women cannot do technical jobs.
- These stories help break the stereotype of Muslims as violent.
challenge the stereotype
1Question and oppose a stereotype
To say or show that a stereotype is wrong or unfair.
- The campaign aims to challenge the stereotype of older people as weak.
- Her work challenges the stereotype that science is only for men.
fit the stereotype
1Match a common stereotype
To seem just like the usual stereotype of a group.
- He completely fits the stereotype of a shy computer nerd.
- She does not fit the stereotype of a typical politician at all.
go against the stereotype
1Behave differently from the stereotype
To act in a way that is not what people expect from the stereotype of your group.
- Her calm leadership goes against the stereotype of emotional teenagers.
- These examples go against the stereotype of small towns as closed-minded.
live up to the stereotype
1Act exactly like the stereotype
To act in a way that is exactly what people expect from a stereotype of your group.
- He really lives up to the stereotype of a forgetful professor.
- She refuses to live up to the stereotype of a quiet, polite girl.
play into the stereotype
1Act in a way that supports a stereotype
To act in a way that makes people believe a stereotype even more.
- When he got angry in the meeting, it played into the stereotype of artists as overly emotional.
- Casting only white actors in that role plays into the stereotype of who can be a hero.
reinforce the stereotype
1Make a stereotype stronger
To support a stereotype and make people believe it more.
- The ad reinforces the stereotype that dads are bad at parenting.
- Such jokes only reinforce the stereotype of lawyers as greedy.
shatter stereotypes
1Completely destroy stereotypes
To totally break and change common stereotypes, usually by strong examples.
- Her success as a female engineer helps shatter stereotypes in the industry.
- The documentary shatters stereotypes about life in Africa.