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

to rubber stamp

8 4.4
To approve something without real discussion
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈrʌbər stæmp/
  • Informal
translation icon : 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
95 3.9

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

approves automatically without careful review rather than formal signing
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
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
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
9.9

To officially approve a product for legal or technical use

approves automatically without proper consideration instead of formal confirmation
to O.K.
vsto rubber stamp
2.3

To give permission to start or use something

approves automatically as a routine, not after careful thought

Antonyms

to consider
∞ 1.1

To think carefully before making a decision

to reject
839 1.9

Refuse to accept someone or something

How Automatic

to rubber stamp
  • Informal
8 4.4
to approve
∞ 1.6
to endorse
183 4.2
to review
  • Literature
252 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.