prejudicial

prej·u·di·cial

adjective \ˌpre-jə-ˈdi-shəl\

Definition of PREJUDICIAL

1

: tending to injure or impair : detrimental <a transfer prejudicial to other creditors>

2

: leading to premature judgment or unwarranted opinion <prejudicial evidence>

— prej·u·di·cial·ly \-ˈdi-sh(ə-)lē\ adverb

— prej·u·di·cial·ness \-shəl-nəs\ noun

Examples of PREJUDICIAL

1. The judge ruled that the prejudicial effect of the evidence outweighed its value.
2. <pretrial publicity that may be extremely prejudicial to a defendant's right to a fair trial>

First Known Use of PREJUDICIAL

15th century

Related to PREJUDICIAL

Synonyms

adverse, bad, baleful, baneful, damaging, dangerous, deleterious, detrimental, evil, hurtful, ill, injurious, mischievous, nocuous, noxious, pernicious, harmful, wicked

Antonyms

anodyne, benign, harmless, hurtless, innocent, innocuous, inoffensive, safe

Related Words

hostile, inimical, unfriendly; contagious, deadly, infectious, infective, pestiferous, pestilent, pestilential, poisonous, venomous; insidious, menacing, ominous, sinister, threatening; hazardous, imperiling (or imperilling), jeopardizing, parlous, perilous, risky, unsafe, unsound; nasty, noisome, unhealthful, unhealthy, unwholesome; destructive, fatal, killer, lethal, malignant, ruinous

Near Antonyms

advantageous, beneficial, useful; favorable, good, propitious; curative, healthful, healthy, helpful, palliative, remedial, salubrious, salutary, wholesome; secure, sound; benignant; noncorrosive, nondestructive, nonfatal, noninfectious, nonlethal, nonpoisonous, nonpolluting, nontoxic, nonvenomous

Rhymes with PREJUDICIAL

beneficial, cicatricial, interstitial, sacrificial, superficial