# stereotype

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈstɛ.ɹi.əˌtaɪp/ · frequency rank #16,590

## Definitions
1. A conventional, formulaic, and often oversimplified or exaggerated conception, opinion, or image of (a person or a group of people).
2. A person who is regarded as embodying or conforming to a set image or type.
3. A metal printing plate cast from a matrix moulded from a raised printing surface.
4. An extensibility mechanism of the Unified Modeling Language, allowing a new element to be derived from an existing one with added specializations.

## Etymology
Borrowed from French stéréotype (adjective), equivalent to stereo- + type. Printing sense is from 1817; the “conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image” sense is recorded from 1922 in Walter Lippmann’s book Public Opinion.

## Easily confused with
- **stereotyped** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stereotype-vs-stereotyped)

## Common misspellings (15)
`setreotype`, `sstereotype`, `steerotype`, `stereotpye`, `stereottype`, `stereotyep`, `stereotyppe`, `stereotyype`, `stereoytpe`, `steretoype`, `steroetype`, `sterreotype`, `streeotype`, `sttereotype`, `tsereotype`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/stereotype