Definitions

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • verb same as generalize.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb chiefly British Alternative spelling of generalize.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb speak or write in generalities
  • verb become systemic and spread throughout the body
  • verb cater to popular taste to make popular and present to the general public; bring into general or common use
  • verb draw from specific cases for more general cases

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word generalise.

Examples

  • I don't disagree with him, but one cannot generalise from a couple of superficial examples.

    Why we like reading novels Maxine 2008

  • I don't disagree with him, but one cannot generalise from a couple of superficial examples.

    July 2008 Maxine 2008

  • I don't disagree with him, but one cannot generalise from a couple of superficial examples.

    Why we like reading novels Maxine 2008

  • 'Great inventors in all ages knew this -- Michael Angelo and Albert Durer are known by this and by this alone'; and another time he wrote, with all the simple directness of nineteenth-century prose, 'to generalise is to be an idiot.'

    Miscellanies Oscar Wilde 1877

  • While it is never correct to "generalise", SOME younger women haven't had a lot of life experience and just aren't that attracted to the "nice guys".

    AustralianIT.com.au | Top Stories 2010

  • I agree many of these officers are shunted off to work in some obscure post instead of being asked to leave, but i think it is an extreme arrogance on behalf of TA posters to 'generalise' that regs can't mange TA soldiers.

    Army Rumour Service 2010

  • I agree many of these officers are shunted off to work in some obscure post instead of being asked to leave, but i think it is an extreme arrogance on behalf of TA posters to 'generalise' that regs can't mange TA soldiers.

    Army Rumour Service 2010

  • "It is hard to generalise because there is a spectrum, but actually the women I have worked with over the years certainly don't seek confrontation and would tend to try to avoid it, which would be consistent with this pre-empting of criticism and anxiety, I suppose; hedging, using humour to soften things."

    Women told to speak their minds to get on in boardrooms 2011

  • Assistant Village Idiot: cityduck — generalise much?

    The Volokh Conspiracy » My Contribution to the NYT ‘Room for Debate’ Blog on the AQ7 Argument 2010

  • Assistant Village Idiot says: cityduck — generalise much?

    The Volokh Conspiracy » My Contribution to the NYT ‘Room for Debate’ Blog on the AQ7 Argument 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.