generalise

[US]/'dʒenərəlaiz/
Frequency: Very High

Translation

vi. draw a general conclusion from particular instances; infer general principles from specific cases; make general or broad statements based on specific instances; form a general idea or principle from specific examples.

Example Sentences

It is not accurate to generalise about all teenagers based on the actions of a few.

We should not generalise about a person's character solely based on their appearance.

It's important not to generalise about a particular group of people without knowing them individually.

She tends to generalise when discussing complex issues.

It's a common mistake to generalise about an entire culture based on stereotypes.

We should be careful not to generalise too much when drawing conclusions from limited data.

Politicians often generalise in their speeches to appeal to a broader audience.

It's easy to generalise about a situation when you're not directly involved.

Teachers should avoid generalising about students based on stereotypes.

People often generalise about certain professions without understanding the challenges they face.

Real-world Examples

Now this is a really useful expression when you're generalising about something and you're coming to a conclusion.

Source: Emma's delicious English

To guess at our original traumas, we need only to study triggering situations and then generalise outwards from them.

Source: The school of life

Don't allow anyone outside their generalised net.

Source: Financial Times Podcast

It seems wrong to so many of us, and I'm generalising here, but often it's women.

Source: Financial Times Podcast

It was not able to generalise what it had learned from a specific situation even to a situation that was only slightly different.

Source: The Economist (Summary)

When you generalise with words such as water no article is used: Water is uncountable, as is air, knowledge and information.

Source: English Learning Series 3

The name has now been generalised to refer to a group of materials which share this mineral's distinctive crystal structure without necessarily sharing its chemical composition.

Source: The Economist Science and Technology

I say everyone, of course, you can't really generalise. But everyone that I seem to have come across, I feel like it's always a place I want to be in.

Source: Street interviews learning English

To generalise wildly, there are two ways to control fertility: to have children quickly and then use contraception to stop having more, or to space out births, leaving longer intervals between each.

Source: The Economist - International

The idea was that the algorithm would learn the association and, having seen the same gesture performed by different people, would be able to generalise what was going on and thus recognise gestures performed by strangers.

Source: The Economist - Technology

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