prejudice

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noun prej·u·dice \ˈpre-jə-dəs\

Definition of prejudice

1 : injury or damage resulting from some judgment or action of another in disregard of one's rights; especially : detriment to one's legal rights or claims
2a (1) : preconceived judgment or opinion (2) : an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledgeb : an instance of such judgment or opinionc : an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics

See prejudice defined for English-language learners

See prejudice defined for kids

Examples of prejudice in a Sentence

But today most black Americans not hampered by poverty or prejudice take for granted their right to study Italian, listen to Britney Spears or opera, play in the NHL, eat Thai food, live anywhere, work anywhere, play anywhere, read and think and say anything. —Stephan Talty, Mulatto America, 2003
It is easy to suppose at this late date that there is barely any overt racism left in the United States, … Kennedy's catalog of mundane cases of explicit anti-black prejudice provides ample illustration of what lurks beneath the surface politeness of many whites. —John McWhorter, New Republic, 14 Jan. 2002
The boundaries between hate and prejudice and between prejudice and opinion and between opinion and truth are so complicated and blurred that any attempt to construct legal and political fire walls is a doomed and illiberal venture. —Andrew Sullivan, New York Times Magazine, 26 Sept. 1999
When my mother, who, unlike my father, was Jewish, encountered unpleasant social prejudice during my high-school years, I acquired a second marginal identity. —Carl E. Schorske, Thinking with History, 1998
The organization fights against racial prejudice.
religious, racial, and sexual prejudices
We tend to make these kinds of decisions according to our own prejudices.
He has a prejudice against fast-food restaurants.

Recent Examples of prejudice from the Web

There is a stigma associated with microcephaly in Brazil, and a prejudice against the disabled in general — some mothers had even been abandoned by their partners after their children were diagnosed with the birth defect.

— katie falkenberg, latimes.com, "Pulitzer Finalist: Motherhood in the Time of Zika", 10 Apr. 2017
That suggests that the nature of contact matters not just for disarming prejudice but for shaping politics.

— emily badger, New York Times, "Immigrant Shock: Can California Predict the Nation’s Future?", 1 Feb. 2017
There is no room in this world for any kind of prejudice.

— dave itzkoff, New York Times, "Pharrell Williams, Making Noise for ‘Hidden Figures’ Everywhere", 3 Jan. 2017
This week, Pankaj Mishra and Leslie Jamison discuss whether writers can ever truly put aside their own prejudices and interpretations.

— pankaj mishra and leslie jamison, New York Times, "Is It Possible for a Writer to Be Objective?", 3 Jan. 2017
There is no room in this world for any kind of prejudice.

— dave itzkoff, New York Times, "Pharrell Williams, Making Noise for ‘Hidden Figures’ Everywhere", 3 Jan. 2017
Despite the prejudice and racial hatred that suffuse the movie’s rural Virginia, whites and African-Americans there live lives that are inextricably intertwined and interdependent.

— Honolulu Star-Advertiser, "Review: Civil rights case provides the background in ’Loving’", 16 Nov. 2016
Motivated by prejudice, many in the media threw aside standards of fairness and balance and even the pretense thereof.

— james taranto, WSJ, "Orange Crush", 9 Nov. 2016
Thanks to Mr. Trump, fringe ideas are now aired in the mainstream, prejudice masquerading as fact.

— declan walsh, New York Times, "Notes on the U.S. Election: A Measure of America’s Fever", 7 Nov. 2016

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

Prejudice: For or Against?

Although prejudice, with its connotations of intolerance , implies a negative bias, the word can be used in positive constructions:

I, too, appreciate projects that treat a difficult subject with rigor, although I'll confess to harboring a bit of prejudice toward thing-biographies.
Adam Baer, Harper's, May 2011

That's true for the participial adjective prejudiced as well:

“The question itself as posed in the survey obviously is prejudiced in favor of the program,” said Tod Story, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada.
Neal Morton, Las Vegas Review Journal, 2 Aug. 2016

In negative constructions, prejudice and prejudiced often precede against:

Lee County Circuit Judge Jacob Walker on Tuesday ruled that claims of juror misconduct by former House Speaker Mike Hubbard failed to show that the jury was prejudiced against Hubbard.
Mike Cason, AL.com, 19 Oct. 2016

Origin and Etymology of prejudice

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin praejudicium previous judgment, damage, from prae- + judicium judgment — more at judicial

First Known Use: 13th century

Synonym Discussion of prejudice

predilection, prepossession, prejudice, bias mean an attitude of mind that predisposes one to favor something. predilection implies a strong liking deriving from one's temperament or experience. a predilection for travel prepossession suggests a fixed conception likely to preclude objective judgment of anything counter to it. a prepossession against technology prejudice usually implies an unfavorable prepossession and connotes a feeling rooted in suspicion, fear, or intolerance. a mindless prejudice against the unfamiliar bias implies an unreasoned and unfair distortion of judgment in favor of or against a person or thing. a strong bias toward the plaintiff

Other Sociology Terms

bourgeois, ethos, eugenics, exurb, incommunicado, intelligentsia, megalopolis, metrosexual, mores, subculture

prejudice

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verb prej·u·dice \ˈpre-jə-dəs\

Definition of prejudice

prejudiced

;

prejudicing

transitive verb
1 : to injure or damage by some judgment or action (as in a case of law)
2 : to cause to have prejudice

See prejudice defined for English-language learners

Examples of prejudice in a Sentence

Paul Revere … engraved the drawing and printed hundreds of vividly colored copies, which traveled throughout the colonies. Well might one judge at Captain Preston's trial complain that “there has been a great deal done to prejudice the People against the Prisoner.” —Hiller B. Zobel American Heritage, July/August 1995
My friends would have had me delay my departure, but fearful of prejudicing my employers against me by such want of punctuality at the commencement of my undertaking, I persisted in keeping the appointment. —Anne Brontë, Agnes Grey, 1847
all the bad stories I had heard about the incoming CEO prejudiced me against him even before the first meeting

Recent Examples of prejudice from the Web

Roof raised a few oral objections to pieces of evidence in court, explaining in a court filing that constant interruptions might prejudice the jury.

— matt zapotosky, Washington Post, "Dylann Roof says it’s ‘not fair’ he has to hear so much from his victims’ families. They all had to endure his racist screed.", 5 Jan. 2017
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, each played their own respective part in the mass criminalization and imprisonment of black bodies, from Trump’s prejudiced call for the execution of the Central Park 5, to Sec.

— lincoln blades, Teen Vogue, "Ava DuVernay’s ‘13th’ Takes a Hard Look at the Realities of Slavery in the U.S.A.", 12 Oct. 2016
But neither is Trump’s outreach mere reassurance to white voters that he is not prejudiced against people of color.

— adam serwer, The Atlantic, "Trump's Black Outreach Repackages Racism as Earnest Concern", 22 Sep. 2016
Once charges have been brought, British media law prohibits any reporting about the case that might prejudice a trial.

— kimiko de freytas-tamura, New York Times, "Suspect in British Lawmaker’s Killing: ‘My Name Is Death to Traitors’", 18 June 2016
One allegation against the hard left in Britain is that its aggressive criticism of American foreign policy, Israel, the mainstream media, and global finance can amount, on occasion, to prejudice against Jews.

— sam knight, The New Yorker, "Enter Left", 23 May 2016
The protesters see the government’s decision as prejudiced against the occupants of central Afghanistan, most of whom are Hazaras, a group emerging from a long history of oppression.

— mujib mashal, New York Times, "Protesting an Afghan Power-Line Route", 16 May 2016
New York’s rules of professional conduct say lawyers generally should not make statements to reporters outside court that are likely to prejudice the legal proceeding.

— james c. mckinley jr., New York Times, "Defense Lawyers in Etan Patz Retrial Seek to Bar Prosecutor", 13 Jan. 2016
This is the kind of demagoguery that could prejudice a prosecution, or mobilize a mob.

— charles p. pierce, Esquire, "Trayvon Martin and the White Pundits", 2 Apr. 2012

Origin and Etymology of prejudice

see ¹prejudice

First Known Use: 15th century

PREJUDICE Defined for English Language Learners

prejudice

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noun

Definition of prejudice for English Language Learners

: an unfair feeling of dislike for a person or group because of race, sex, religion, etc.
: a feeling of like or dislike for someone or something especially when it is not reasonable or logical

prejudice

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verb

Definition of prejudice for English Language Learners

: to cause (someone) to have an unfair feeling of dislike for someone or something
: to have a harmful effect on (something, such as a legal case)

PREJUDICE Defined for Kids

prejudice

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noun prej·u·dice \ˈpre-jə-dəs\

Definition of prejudice for Students

1 : a liking or dislike for one rather than another especially without good reason She has a prejudice against department stores.
2 : a feeling of unfair dislike directed against an individual or a group because of some characteristic (as race or religion)
3 : injury or damage to a person's rights

prejudice

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verb prej·u·dice

Definition of prejudice for Students

prejudiced

;

prejudicing

1 : to cause to have an unfair dislike of The incident prejudiced them against the company.
2 : to cause damage to (as a person's rights) Newspaper stories prejudiced the upcoming trial.

Law Dictionary

prejudice

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noun prej·u·dice \ˈpre-jə-dəs\

Legal Definition of prejudice

1 : injury or detriment to one's legal rights or claims (as from the action of another): as a : substantial impairment of a defendant's ability to defend the court found no prejudice to the defendant by the lengthy delay in bringing charges b : tendency for a decision on an improper basis (as past conduct) by a trier of fact whether an ex parte communication to a deliberating jury resulted in any reasonable possibility of prejudice to the defendant — National Law Journal c : implied waiver of rights and privileges not explicitly retained District Court erred in attaching prejudice to prisoner's complaint for injunctive relief — National Law Journal
2 : a final and binding decision (as an adjudication on the merits) that bars further prosecution of the same cause of action or motion dismisses this case with prejudice the dismissal was without prejudice
3a : an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics the Constitution does not prohibit laws based on prejudice per se — R. H. Bork b : an attitude or disposition (as of a judge) that prevents impartiality that the judge before whom the matter is pending has a personal bias or prejudice…against him — U.S. Code

Origin and Etymology of prejudice

Old French, from Latin praejudicium previous judgment, damage, from prae- before + judicium judgment

prejudice

transitive verb prej·u·dice

Legal Definition of prejudice

prejudiced

prejudicing

1 : to injure or damage the rights of by some legal action or prejudice if the joinder of offenses or defendants…appears to prejudice a defendant or the government — Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 14
2 : to injure or damage (rights) by some legal action or prejudice that the denial prejudiced his right to a fair trial this clause does not prejudice other rights