First Known Use: 13th century
Dictionary
1prejudice
noun prej·u·dice \ˈpre-jə-dəs\
: an unfair feeling of dislike for a person or group because of race, sex, religion, etc.
: a feeling of like or dislike for someone or something especially when it is not reasonable or logical
Full Definition of PREJUDICE
1
2
a (1) : preconceived judgment or opinion (2) : an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge b : an instance of such judgment or opinion c : an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics
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Examples of PREJUDICE
- But today most black Americans not hampered by poverty or prejudice take for granted their right to study Italian, listen to Britney Spears or opera, play in the NHL, eat Thai food, live anywhere, work anywhere, play anywhere, read and think and say anything. —Stephan Talty, Mulatto America, 2003
- It is easy to suppose at this late date that there is barely any overt racism left in the United States, … Kennedy's catalog of mundane cases of explicit anti-black prejudice provides ample illustration of what lurks beneath the surface politeness of many whites. —John McWhorter, New Republic, 14 Jan. 2002
- The boundaries between hate and prejudice and between prejudice and opinion and between opinion and truth are so complicated and blurred that any attempt to construct legal and political fire walls is a doomed and illiberal venture. —Andrew Sullivan, New York Times Magazine, 26 Sept. 1999
- When my mother, who, unlike my father, was Jewish, encountered unpleasant social prejudice during my high-school years, I acquired a second marginal identity. —Carl E. Schorske, Thinking with History, 1998
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Origin of PREJUDICE
Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin praejudicium previous judgment, damage, from prae- + judicium judgment — more at judicial
Related to PREJUDICE
- Synonyms
- favor, nonobjectivity, one-sidedness, partiality, parti pris, partisanship, ply, bias, tendentiousness
- Antonyms
- impartiality, neutrality, objectivity, open-mindedness, unbiasedness
Synonym Discussion of PREJUDICE
predilection, prepossession, prejudice, bias mean an attitude of mind that predisposes one to favor something. predilection implies a strong liking deriving from one's temperament or experience <a predilection for travel>. prepossession suggests a fixed conception likely to preclude objective judgment of anything counter to it <a prepossession against technology>. prejudice usually implies an unfavorable prepossession and connotes a feeling rooted in suspicion, fear, or intolerance <a mindless prejudice against the unfamiliar>. bias implies an unreasoned and unfair distortion of judgment in favor of or against a person or thing <a strong bias toward the plaintiff>.
Other Sociology Terms
2prejudice
verb prej·u·dice \ˈpre-jə-dəs\
: to cause (someone) to have an unfair feeling of dislike for someone or something
: to have a harmful effect on (something, such as a legal case)
prej·u·dicedprej·u·dic·ing
Full Definition of PREJUDICE
transitive verb
1
: to injure or damage by some judgment or action (as in a case of law)
2
: to cause to have prejudice(see 1prejudice)
See prejudice defined for English-language learners
Examples of PREJUDICE
- Paul Revere … engraved the drawing and printed hundreds of vividly colored copies, which traveled throughout the colonies. Well might one judge at Captain Preston's trial complain that “there has been a great deal done to prejudice the People against the Prisoner.” —Hiller B. Zobel American Heritage, July/August 1995
- My friends would have had me delay my departure, but fearful of prejudicing my employers against me by such want of punctuality at the commencement of my undertaking, I persisted in keeping the appointment. —Anne Brontë, Agnes Grey, 1847
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Origin of PREJUDICE
(see 1prejudice)
First Known Use: 15th century
PREJUDICING Defined for Kids
1prejudice
noun prej·u·dice \ˈpre-jə-dəs\
Definition of PREJUDICE for Kids
1
: a liking or dislike for one rather than another especially without good reason <She has a prejudice against department stores.>
2
: a feeling of unfair dislike directed against an individual or a group because of some characteristic (as race or religion)
3
: injury or damage to a person's rights
2prejudice
verb
prej·u·dicedprej·u·dic·ing
Definition of PREJUDICE for Kids
1
: to cause to have an unfair dislike of <The incident prejudiced them against the company.>
2
: to cause damage to (as a person's rights) <Newspaper stories prejudiced the upcoming trial.>
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