marginalize

verb

mar·​gin·​al·​ize ˈmär-jə-nᵊl-ˌīz How to pronounce marginalize (audio)
ˈmärj-nə-ˌlīz
marginalized; marginalizing

transitive verb

: to relegate (see relegate sense 2) to an unimportant or powerless position within a society or group
We are protesting policies that marginalize women.
marginalization noun

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Marginalized Writing vs. Marginalized People

Marginalize provides a striking case of how thoroughly the figurative use of a word can take over the literal one. The original (and now obsolete) meaning of this word, “to write notes in the margin of,” is analogous to the still-familiar noun marginalia, “marginal notes or embellishments." A margin is, of course, the blank space surrounding the text in a book. Just prior to 1970, marginalize took on the sense that is most commonly encountered today, “to relegate to an unimportant or powerless position” (that is, to the metaphorical margins of society). This use of the verb can be found as far back as 1968; an article in The Los Angeles Times from June 20th of that year reports, “[T]he Negro was kept aside, marginalized, thus composing in its large majority the chronically poor.” In its newer sense, marginalize has assumed a much more prominent place in the vocabulary than it once had.

Examples of marginalize in a Sentence

The program helps people from marginalized groups.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
With seven of its nine tracks hitting Billboard’s Top Ten, Thriller amalgamated the lines of genre, form and grandly, that of race leading Black music back to its natural position of the forefront amid the clouds of being marginalized. Ime Ekpo, Forbes.com, 26 June 2025 Arbus also captured the lives of society’s most celebrated, too, but in this exhibition photographs of figures like Mae West, Susan Sontag and James Brown are interspersed with the obscure, the marginalized, the extraordinary and the ordinary. Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 June 2025 With Mayor Eric Adams under federal investigation and politically weakened, several Democrats now believe that a Cuomo victory in November would give him the leverage to marginalize James further. Jesus Mesa, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 June 2025 Japan and South Korea are the two anchors of Asian economic dynamism; without them, American efforts to marginalize China cannot succeed. Kori Schake, Foreign Affairs, 24 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for marginalize

Word History

First Known Use

1968, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of marginalize was in 1968

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Cite this Entry

“Marginalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/marginalize. Accessed 29 Jun. 2025.

Kids Definition

marginalize

verb
mar·​gin·​al·​ize ˈmärj-nəl-ˌīz How to pronounce marginalize (audio)
-ən-ᵊl-
marginalized; marginalizing
: to remove to or keep in a position without influence in a society or group
marginalization noun
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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