marginalize
verb
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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
Michael Boyd, Forbes.com, 17 July 2025
And the way that people marginalize and attack the Trans community, especially politically, is unfathomable to me, and so unbearably cruel.
—Jay Stahl, USA Today, 16 July 2025
Activists like Gyamfi want all Americans, especially those marginalized, to pay attention.
—Meagan Jordan, Rolling Stone, 14 July 2025
When Canada recently expanded MAID to those suffering as well as those actively dying, opponents feared that the poor, marginalized, disabled and mentally ill would become its primary victims.
—Teri Sforza, Oc Register, 8 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for marginalize
Cite this Entry
“Marginalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/marginalize. Accessed 23 Jul. 2025.
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marginalize
verb
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