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lockstep

lockstep

16 7.5
People act and think exactly the same way without questioning
  • noun
  • /ˈlɑkˌstɛp/
translation icon : al unísono
  • The committee members acted in lockstep when making decisions, ensuring that everyone was on the same page.
  • move in lockstep
  • march in lockstep

I mean, that is, that is an ideology working at such speed and in such lockstep.

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Examples

  • The whole event had the feel of a finely tuned script, a lockstep ritual.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • In contrast to most public school settings, children in private schools are more likely to be in lockstep with one another.

  • And British foreign policy has been in lockstep with the U.S. for a decade.

    Blog text (3)
  • Require all teachers to teach in the same lockstep way.

    Academic text (1999)
  • And the problem is those people are in lockstep with the mainstream media.

  • You want everybody to walk in lockstep, and if they don't, they must be the enemy.

    Blog text (5)
  • Rigid cultures that teach their students in lockstep send the best to America to learn innovative thinking.

    Blog text (13)
  • Meanwhile, on the House side, the Republican majority has voted in near-lockstep against almost everything.

    Blog text (2)
  • The chart below shows how the stocks have traded in lockstep with one another until today's break.

    Blog text (7)
  • Americans' interest in cutting emissions has sagged almost in lockstep with the rising unemployment rate.

    Blog text (25)

Synonyms

unison
vslockstep
265 2.8

Two or more people act or speak at the same time

emphasizes strict conformity and unthinking agreement rather than timing

Antonyms

348 3.5

A range of different people or things

39 4.6

Qualities that make someone or something different from others

Idioms

10 6.0

Moving or acting exactly the same as others

How Conformist

groupthink
11 7.1
lockstep
16 7.5
conformity
24 4.8
in concert
20 4.1
individualism
22 6.5

Surface Forms

lockstep singular
locksteps plural

Morphology

lockstep = lock + step (semi-transparent) = lock + step

The compound suggests moving in tightly synchronized steps, which supports the figurative idea of acting in rigid unison, but the social nuance of unquestioning conformity is not fully predictable from the parts alone.

Etymology

Lockstep originally described feet 'locked' together in marching, and a helpful way to remember it is to imagine people moving so close their actions 'fit' like parts of a lock. That's why lockstep now means doing or thinking exactly the same as others, often without question.