generic

comparative more generic · superlative most generic · alternative obsolete generick

1. Very broad; pertaining or appropriate to large classes or groups as opposed to specific instances.

   Capri pants can be a generic term for any cropped slim pants.

   1 more example

   […] the essence is that such self-describing poets describe what is in them, but not peculiar to them, – what is generic, not what is special and individual.

   1864, Walter Bagehot, “Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Browning; or, Pure, Ornate, and Grotesque Art in English Poetry”, in The National Review, volume 19

   Synonyms: broad · Antonyms: specific, instantial

2. Lacking in precision, often in an evasive fashion; vague; imprecise.

   Having in mind Marx's conception of reason as a practical organ of collective existence, and of the object as something defined though not objectivized by reason, we may describe his epistemology as one of generic subjectivism.

   1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume I: The Founders, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: powstanie (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 176

   Synonyms: fuzzy, unbranded

3. medicineOf a product or drug, not having a brand name; nonproprietary in design or contents; fungible with the rest of its class.

   The four-and-one-half-day trial was centered on acts that neither she nor prosecutors dispute: On July 13, 2012, she drove her Lexus S.U.V. erratically after swallowing Zolpidem, a generic form of the sleep medication Ambien.

   2014 February 28, Joseph Berger, “Fast Acquittal for Kennedy, Whose Name Put Prosecutors in Bind”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 28 Aug 2022

4. biologyPertaining to genera of life instead of particular species thereof.

   Holonym: familial

   2 more examples

   Meronyms: infrasubspecific, infraspecific, subspecific, specific

   There are scores of generic names within the order Decapoda, which includes many sea creatures that are called shrimp.

5. nonstandardgrammarSpecifying neither masculine nor feminine; epicene; unisex.

   Words like salesperson and firefighter are generic.

   1 more example

   This included criticism of the generic use of man to include men and women.

6. computingOf a procedure, written so as to operate on any data type, the type required being passed as a parameter.
7. geometryOf a point, having coordinates that are algebraically independent over the base field.
8. Relating to genre.

   Both [films] test formal and generic boundaries.

   2018, Nicole Seymour, Bad Environmentalism, page 47

9. Having no distinguishing characteristics; unoriginal.

   That movie was so generic; it was such a bore!

plural generics · alternative obsolete generick

1. A product sold under a generic name.
2. A wine that is a combination of several wines, or made from a combination of several grape varieties.

   Synonyms: blend · Antonyms: varietal

3. grammarA term that specifies neither male nor female.

   […]a male-centered perspective[…]has resulted in false generics in everyday life[…]

   1998, Jacqueline A. Dienemann, Nursing administration: managing patient care

4. The part of a toponym that identifies the feature's type.

   Where the generic of an English-language place name has been translated into French, it is essential to restore it to its original English form when translating the French document into English.

   2024 July 29, “geographical names: translation”, in Writing Tips Plus, Ottawa: Translation Bureau, retrieved 09 Nov 2024

   Antonyms: specific