boilerplate
noun
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Boilerplate in Print
In the days before computers, small newspapers around the U.S. relied heavily on feature stories, editorials, and other printed material supplied by large publishing syndicates. The syndicates delivered that copy on metal plates with the type already in place so the local papers wouldn't have to set it. Printers apparently dubbed those syndicated plates "boiler plates" because of their resemblance to the plating used in making steam boilers. Soon boilerplate came to refer to the printed material on the plates as well as to the plates themselves. Because boilerplate stories were often more filler—material used to fill extra space in a column or page of a newspaper to increase its size—than important or informative news, the word acquired negative connotations and gained the "standardized or formulaic language" sense widely used today.
Examples of boilerplate in a Sentence
Jerrold Lundquist, Forbes.com, 29 May 2025
The lawsuit is devoid of specific allegations against anyone, much less Abel, relying exclusively on generalized recitations of boilerplate legal jargon.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 24 Apr. 2025
Firms still relying on static sourcing models and boilerplate contracts are gambling with their margins.
—Harvard Business Review, 11 Apr. 2025
Bond measure language seemed to use boilerplate language, too, the grand jury said — with initiatives spanning a decade, from 2008 to 2018, listing many of the same projects as ones the bonds could fund.
—Jemma Stephenson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for boilerplate
Cite this Entry
“Boilerplate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boilerplate. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
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boilerplate
noun
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