microaggression

noun

mi·cro·ag·gres·sion | \ ˌmī-krō-ə-ˈgre-shən

Definition of microaggression

: a comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group (such as a racial minority) A digital photo project run by a Fordham University student about "racial microaggressions" features minority students holding up signs with comments like "You're really pretty … for a dark-skin girl."— Jinnie Spiegler There is a real and worthy conversation taking place in this country now, particularly among young people, around the idea of microaggressions—slight, often unintended discriminatory comments or behaviors.— Charles M. Blow also : behavior or speech that is characterized by such comments or actions … argues that the power of microaggression lies in its invisibility to the perpetrator, who typically finds it difficult to believe that he or she possesses biased attitudes. — Emily Skop

Other Words from microaggression More Example Sentences Learn More about microaggression

Keep scrolling for more

Other Words from microaggression

microaggressive \ ˌmī-krō-ə-ˈgre-siv

\ adjective

microaggressive behaviors … the group quite clearly criticized his teaching as microaggressive. — Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt

microaggressor \ ˌmī-krō-ə-ˈgre-sər

\ noun

Even "microaggressions" websites themselves would be unobjectionable to some of their critics if they merely made the case that certain phrases and behaviors should be avoided. What these critics find objectionable are two other aspects of "microaggressions" culture: attempts to publicly shame "microaggressors;" and attempts to punish alleged "microaggressors" by reporting them to the authorities. — Conor Friedersdorf

Examples of microaggression in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Besides microaggressions and safe spaces, the chief villains in this tale are trigger warnings, which supposedly let students avoid hearing any uncomfortable ideas. — Jonathan W. Wilson, Vox, "My students aren’t asking for safe spaces. They’re repressing past traumas to survive.," 12 Dec. 2018 The National Science Foundation pours millions of taxpayer dollars into intersectionality and microaggression studies to smoke out invisible STEM sexism and to promote diversity in research labs. — Heather Mac Donald, WSJ, "Sorry, Feminists, Men Are Better at Scrabble," 16 Nov. 2018 Now that microaggressions like these are being brought to light on social media, the conversation is opening up. — Janelle Okwodu, Vogue, "Shopping While Black: Why I’m No Longer Afraid to Call Time on Racial Profiling," 29 Aug. 2018 But our sessions took a weird turn when some of my anxiety about my income and struggle with friends and family intersected with racial oppression and microaggressions. — Jacy Topps, Glamour, "Why I'll Be Choosing My Next Therapist by Race," 30 May 2018 But the event and venue were significant because Yale students had nearly rioted a few months before over a dorm master’s wife’s email that gently challenged the university’s warning that microaggressions might lurk in some Halloween costumes. — Nina Burleigh, Newsweek, "The Battle Against ‘Hate Speech’ on College Campuses Gives Rise to a Generation That Hates Speech," 26 May 2016 But some students and professors are standing up against the new culture of safe spaces, trigger warnings, microaggressions and bias response teams. — Emily Esfahani Smith, WSJ, "A Movement Rises to Take Back Higher Education," 17 June 2018 This year, Professor Nadal will be publishing his ninth book in microaggression theory and is also launching an LGBTQ training program with the New York City Policy Department. — NBC News, "#Pride30: Professor Kevin Leo Nadal is making his mark in LGBTQ academia," 31 May 2018 But these remarks and microaggressions are proxy measures of the power and discriminatory culture permeating personal and professional spaces. — Nicolas Nguyen, STAT, "‘Benign sexism’ intrudes at a meeting of the world’s brightest minds," 3 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'microaggression.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.