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Glite Dictionary
✅ To approve quickly ✅ Automatic approval 🖋️ A marking tool
rubber stamp

rubber stamp

6 5.0
A person or group that approves decisions without real thought
  • noun
  • /ˈrʌbər stæmp/
  • Informal
: sello de aprobación
  • The committee acted as a rubber stamp, quickly approving the new policy without much discussion.

I mean, they just are nothing more than a rubber stamp for this DOJ.

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Examples

  • The Senate was to be nothing more than a servile rubber stamp, an outdated relic there to fawn at his feet and little else.

  • In today's China, they are no longer rubber-stamp organizations; they actually debate and vote on crucial issues.

    Academic text (1997)

  • Are you looking for my professional opinion or a rubber stamp?

    Metal Detector Maniac (2021)

  • But recently, some district court judges have refused to act as rubber stamps.

    Academic text (2017)

  • However, such clearance was sometimes a mere rubber stamp.

    Academic text (1992)

  • I mean, they just are nothing more than a rubber stamp for this DOJ.

    Megyn Kelly

  • A contrary decision would turn the district court's decision into a mere rubber stamp of the arbitration award.

    Academic text (2007)

  • The council's refusal to serve as a rubber stamp for Washington will give any future support it lends to the United States greater credibility.

    Academic text (2003)

  • The Electoral College is now the set of dedicated party activists who vote as rubber stamps for their party's presidential candidate.

    Blog text (29)

  • In IMF terms, this language signaled rubber-stamp approval from the executive board and a de facto release of funds to Pakistan.

    Academic text (2004)

Synonyms

stamp of approval
vsrubber stamp
10 3.4

An official sign that shows someone agrees with something

is an automatic acceptance without proper consideration

Antonyms

fine-toothed review
5.0

A careful, detailed check of a document or record to find small errors

Surface Forms

rubber stamp singular
rubber stamps plural

Morphology

rubber + stamp

The literal image of a rubber stamp (a rubber tool used to mark or authorize documents) maps clearly onto the idea of 'giving approval', so the verb sense 'to approve automatically' is a predictable metaphorical extension of the constituents. However, the pragmatic nuance of unthinking or formal approval (i.e., approving without proper consideration) is a figurative shift that a B1 learner may not fully infer without prior exposure.

Etymology

The noun rubber stamp comes from the picture of a real rubber stamp that simply makes the same mark when pressed, so calling a group a rubber stamp means it gives 'automatic' approval without real thought.