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

rubber stamp

4 5.0
A person or group that approves decisions without real thought
  • noun
  • /ˈrʌbər stæmp/
  • Informal
translation icon : 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  • The Senate was to be nothing more than a servile rubber stamp, an outdated relic there to fawn at his feet and little else.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
9 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.