Definition of OSTRACIZE

Ostracize Has Greek Roots

In ancient Greece, prominent citizens whose power or influence threatened the stability of the state could be exiled by a practice called ostracism. Voters would elect to banish another citizen by writing that citizen's name down on a potsherd. Those receiving enough votes would then be subject to temporary exile from the state (usually for ten years). The English verb ostracize can mean "to exile by the ancient method of ostracism," but these days it usually refers to the general exclusion of one person from a group at the agreement of its members. Ostracism and ostracize derive from the Greek ostrakizein ("to banish by voting with potsherds"). Its ancestor, the Greek ostrakon ("shell" or "potsherd"), also helped to give English the word oyster.

Examples of ostracize in a Sentence

She was ostracized from the scientific community for many years because of her radical political beliefs. The other girls ostracized her because of the way she dressed.

Recent Examples on the Web

Us, blacks that were with him during the campaign were vilified, ostracized, called Uncle Tom, cahoots, sellouts, and everything else. — Fox News, "Eric Trump: Hypocrisy of the media is really incredible," 3 Aug. 2018 The abdication and resulting scandal caused the Duke and Duchess of Windsor to be ostracized from the royal family. — Chloe Foussianes, Town & Country, "Wallis Simpson Is Buried on the Grounds of Frogmore House, the Place Meghan Markle Will Soon Call Home," 9 Dec. 2018 The heirs portrayed Gayle Benson as a manipulative and money-hungry intruder in the family, who had ostracized Rita, Renee and Ryan from the patriarch. — Katherine Sayre, NOLA.com, "New Orleans Saints, Pelicans ownership in flux after Tom Benson's death," 15 Nov. 2017 Marinari agrees that there is a sense of ostracizing moms who don’t drink from those who do. — Claire Gillespie, SELF, "Becoming Sober Made Me Realize How Problematic ‘Wine Mom’ Culture Really Is," 20 Nov. 2018 Who cares if he might be hurt or ostracized or traumatized—Eric only met the guy in rehab, after all. — Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, "Every Single Episode of Gossip Girl, Ranked," 19 Sep. 2018 The rise of the National Front, Marine Le Pen’s right-wing anti-immigrant party that won a third of votes in France’s presidential runoff last year, aggravated many young black Voguers who already felt ostracized. — Thomas Adamson, BostonGlobe.com, "Voguing revives as Paris minorities strike a political pose," 25 Mar. 2018 Despite her agreeable relationship with her ex-husband Prince Andrew, Fergie was somewhat ostracized by his relatives following their divorce and a number of high-profile scandals in the 1990s. — Caroline Hallemann, Town & Country, "Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, Looks Stunning in a Green Dress at Her Daughter Princess Eugenie's Wedding," 12 Oct. 2018 Without lionizing, ostracizing or enabling MBS, Mr. Pompeo needs to get to the heart of the matter: Saudi insecurity. — Walter Russell Mead, WSJ, "Don’t Ditch Riyadh in a Fit of Righteousness," 15 Oct. 2018

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