generalizations
Sweeping summary claims
Generalizations are broad statements or conclusions drawn from specific instances.
To generalize is to identify patterns across particulars and extend them: The study's generalizations about teenagers may not apply to all age groups.
The word often carries a note of caution—generalizations can oversimplify or ignore important exceptions.
A sweeping generalization treats too many cases as alike.
Still, generalizations are essential to reasoning; without them, every situation would require starting from scratch.
Unfair inclination or prejudice
- prejudicePreformed unfavorable opinion
- oversimplificationStripping complexity unfairly
- clichéOverused, unoriginal expression
- caricatureExaggerated comic depiction
typecast · pigeonhole · label · profiling · stigma · discrimination · archetype · trope
Conclusion reached through reasoning
- deductionConclusion from premises
- inductionFormal admission process
- abstractionDistilling to essential qualities
- extrapolationExtending data beyond bounds
logic · syllogism · premise · conclusion · hypothesis · theorem · corollary · postulate
Prevailing directions of change
- regularitiesRecurring predictable patterns
- uniformityState of being identical
- consistencyReliable adherence to standards
- repeatabilityCapacity for consistent duplication
probability · statistics · likelihood · predictability · correlation · frequency · recurrence · norms
Wide in span
- sweepingExtensive and far-reaching
- universalAffecting all equally
- categoricalUnconditional and explicit
- blanketSoft bed covering
overarching · umbrella · all-encompassing · wholesale · indiscriminate · undifferentiated · nonspecific · vague
Belief held without proof
- suppositionBelief without proof
- conjectureGuess from limited facts
- speculationUnproven theorizing or risky investment
- hypothesisTestable proposed explanation
belief · premise · guesswork · surmise · notion · anticipation · expectation · preconception
bias
Unfair inclination or prejudice
- prejudicePreformed unfavorable opinion
- oversimplificationStripping complexity unfairly
- clichéOverused, unoriginal expression
caricature · typecast · pigeonhole · label · profiling · stigma · discrimination · archetype · trope · reductionism
inference
Conclusion reached through reasoning
- deductionConclusion from premises
- inductionFormal admission process
- abstractionDistilling to essential qualities
extrapolation · logic · syllogism · premise · conclusion · hypothesis · theorem · corollary · postulate · analogy
trends
Prevailing directions of change
- regularitiesRecurring predictable patterns
- uniformityState of being identical
- consistencyReliable adherence to standards
repeatability · probability · statistics · likelihood · predictability · correlation · frequency · recurrence · norms · tendencies
broad
Wide in span
- sweepingExtensive and far-reaching
- universalAffecting all equally
- categoricalUnconditional and explicit
blanket · overarching · umbrella · all-encompassing · wholesale · indiscriminate · undifferentiated · nonspecific · vague · imprecise
presumption
Belief held without proof
- suppositionBelief without proof
- conjectureGuess from limited facts
- speculationUnproven theorizing or risky investment
hypothesis · belief · premise · guesswork · surmise · notion · anticipation · expectation · preconception · presupposition
- Assumptionsfalse assumption, stereotypes, biases, prejudices, expectations
- inductive reasoninginductive reasoning, inference, extrapolation, pattern recognition, bottom-up
- sayingssayings, saying, proverb, proverbs, adage
- idealsideal, utopia, archetypes, models, paradise
- discriminationracism, systemic discrimination, Jim Crow laws, sexism, racial harassment
- knowledge gapsignorance, gaps, information gap, blind spots, blind spot
generalizationsspecifics
Exact details of something
particulars · details · specificity · particularities · particularity
generalizationsnuances
Subtle variations in meaning
specializations · distinctions · qualifications · exceptions · differentiations
- hasty generalizationConclusion from insufficient evidence