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

to rubber stamp

10 4.4
To approve something without real discussion
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈrʌbər stæmp/
  • Informal
: aprobar automáticamente
  • The state would simply rubber-stamp the decisions of the private sector.
  • rubber-stamp the decisions
  • simply rubber-stamp
  • just rubber-stamp

It's because he wooed so many of our media elites who should have been calling him out or at least investigating him and not rubber stamping him.

Examples

  • Agencies that simply rubber-stamp private regulatory requests do not satisfy the requirement.

    Academic text (2017)

  • Few expect the legislature to do anything but rubber-stamp bills presented to it by the chief executive.

    Academic text (1997)

  • Give us your plan and we'll rubber stamp it.

    Blog text (9)

  • If the oversight board rubber stamps everything that Facebook does, it's not working.

  • The Central Committee does not rubber stamp the decision of the Endorsement Committee, however.

    Blog text (8)

  • I will not rubber-stamp the choice put forward by the Progressive Power Elite.

    Blog text (3)

  • It's not the best corporate governance practice for boards to just rubber-stamp management's decisions.

    Blog text (18)

  • Zoning boards rubber-stamp approvals and think nothing of the consequences.

    Blog text (9)

  • Germany's highest constitutional court this morning rubber-stamped a giant European bailout fund, with a few conditions, sparking market celebrations around the world.

    Blog text (13)

  • The committee will rubber stamp the proposal without any discussion.

Synonyms

to sign off
vsto rubber stamp
134 3.9

To give official approval, usually by writing your name on a document

approves automatically without careful review rather than formal signing
to O.K.
vsto rubber stamp
4 2.3

To give permission to start or use something

approves automatically as a routine, not after careful thought
to preapprove
vsto rubber stamp
2 4.3

Give official permission for something before it happens

approves automatically when formality is routine rather than before event
to rubberstamp
vsto rubber stamp
  • Informal
1 6.5

Approve something quickly without proper thought

has identical meaning but written as one word
to vise
vsto rubber stamp
  • Formal
1 9.1

To approve a document, usually by signing or stamping it

approves automatically without proper consideration rather than signing
to approbate
vsto rubber stamp
  • Formal
1 9.9

To give official permission to a plan or document by an authority

approves automatically without real thought rather than through formal process
to homologate
vsto rubber stamp
  • Formal
1 9.9

To officially approve a product for legal or technical use

approves automatically without proper consideration instead of formal confirmation

Antonyms

to consider
∞ 1.1

To think carefully before making a decision

to reject
760 1.9

Refuse to accept someone or something

How Automatic

to rubber stamp
  • Informal
10 4.4
to approve
926 1.6
to endorse
366 4.2
to review
  • Literature
180 2.9

Surface Forms

rubber stamp infinitive
rubber stamped past
rubber stamped past participle
rubber stamping present participle
rubber stamps third person singular

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 verb rubber stamp comes from that same image of pressing a rubber stamp quickly, so to rubber stamp a plan means to 'approve' it without checking carefully.