bumper sticker

plural bumper stickers

1. USAn adhesive label or decal, usually applied to the bumper or back end of an automobile, and displaying a short political, promotional, philosophical, or humorous message.

   He has a bumper sticker on his van that reads "faster than a speeding ticket".

   3 more examples

   My space in the teachers' parking lot was next to Henry's. His back bumper had two stickers: "I'd Rather Be Golfing" and "He who dies with the most toys WINS!"

   2008, Wally Lamb, The Hour I First Believed, Ch.2, at p.35

   Many longtime residents strongly oppose the extremism of the newcomers, sporting bumper stickers that say, “Don't Californicate Colorado.”

   2012 [2001], Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 65

   Are bumper stickers, as a folk art, on the decline? Yes — in fact, a lot of luxury cars don’t even have bumpers anymore.

   2012 September 21, Pagan Kennedy, “Who Made That Bumper Sticker?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   Synonyms: car-sticker

2. USfigurativelyCanned insight; a slogan or saying that is trite or superficial.

   bumper-sticker philosophy

   1 more example

   "It's like a status thing, you know? 'My kid's special because he's got a peanut allergy.' I'm surprised they don't have a bumper sticker for it."

   2008, Wally Lamb, The Hour I First Believed, Ch.7, at p.157