C20: from The Stepford Wives (1972), a book by US writer Ira Levin which depicted a neighbourhood in which menturn their wives into placid and obedient robots
Stepford in American English
(ˈstɛpfərd)
US
adjective
resembling an automaton in being conformist and submissive, unemotional, mechanical, etc.
Word origin
after the title characters in The Stepford Wives (1972), science-fiction novel by Ira Levin, programmed to be traditional, perfectlycompliant helpmates
Examples of 'Stepford' in a sentence
Stepford
But it saddened me, and I couldn't allow her to turn into a Stepford wife, a mindless servant to what she thought were my wishes and needs.