刻板

kèbǎn
adjective #32,158

Meanings

  1. 1 rigid
  2. 2 inflexible
  3. 3 stereotyped
  4. 4 mechanical (manner)
  5. 5 to cut printing blocks (literal)

Examples

Tā de gōngzuò fāngshì hěn kèbǎn, bù yuànyì chángshì xīn fāngfǎ.
His way of working is very rigid; he is unwilling to try new methods.
Duì wàiguórén de kèbǎn yìnxiàng wǎngwǎng bù zhǔnquè.
Stereotypes about foreigners are often inaccurate.

Tips

history
The literal meaning is 'to engrave printing blocks' — a fixed, unchangeable carved page. The figurative sense ('rigid, unchanging') comes from that: once carved, the block can't be altered.
usage
刻板印象 (kèbǎn yìnxiàng) is the standard Chinese for 'stereotype' — a frequent collocation worth remembering as a unit.

Stroke Order

bǎn