prejudice

noun prej·u·dice \ ˈpre-jə-dəs \

Updated on: 18 Jan 2018

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

2 a (1) : preconceived judgment or opinion

(2) : an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge

b : an instance of such judgment or opinion

c : 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

The memo said agents who planned and oversaw the cattle roundup mocked and displayed clear prejudice against the Bundys, their supporters and Mormons.

— CBS News, "Mistrial declared in Nevada rancher's armed standoff with U.S. agents," 20 Dec. 2017
Although the Catholic Irish faced widespread prejudice from nativist forces in their new homeland, the celebration, having been stripped of its Catholic underpinning, quickly proved to be popular.

— olivia b. waxman, Time, "How Trick-or-Treating Became Part of Halloween Tradition," 26 Oct. 2017
In the 1930s, the activist W.E.B. Du Bois argued that the idea that there was no prejudice in the North was a fable.

— manohla dargis, New York Times, "Review: In ‘Marshall,’ a Legal Pioneer Gives History a Shove," 12 Oct. 2017
The prejudice against synth-rock and pop has been even more significant.

— spencer kornhaber, The Atlantic, "Nina Simone Nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame—Finally," 5 Oct. 2017
All are men and the majority are white, reflecting larger systemic prejudices in the Nobel Prize system.

— kat eschner, Smithsonian, "The Perks and Pitfalls of Being a Nobel Laureate: Early Mornings, Performance Anxiety," 2 Oct. 2017
Duane Marvin, 91, had second- and first-degree murder charges dismissed without prejudice after a Wednesday morning hearing.

— jerzy shedlock, Alaska Dispatch News, "Judge dismisses case against man, 91, charged in shooting death of wife," 31 Aug. 2017
Vocal debates ensued about whether the show called out prejudice or glorified it.

— marc freeman, The Hollywood Reporter, "Norman Lear on How 'All in the Family' Gave Birth to Political Sitcoms," 26 Dec. 2017
The Anti-Defamation League is honoring a Laguna Beach police officer for his commitment to eliminating hate and prejudice.

— bryce alderton, Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot, "Anti-Defamation League honors Laguna officer’s efforts to reduce hate and prejudice," 26 Dec. 2017

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

See Words from the same year

prejudice Synonyms

Synonyms

favor, nonobjectivity, one-sidedness, partiality, parti pris, partisanship, ply, bias, tendentiousness

Antonyms

impartiality, neutrality, objectivity, open-mindedness, unbiasedness

Related Words

chauvinism, cronyism, favoritism, nepotism; self-opinionatedness, self-partiality; bent, inclination, leaning, penchant, predilection, predisposition, proclivity, propensity, tendency; preconception, prejudgment, prepossession

Near Antonyms

calm, detachment, dispassion, indifference; aversion, dislike, distaste, hate, scunner

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

verb

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

Ward continued practicing law, but never inside a courtroom for fear her gender would prejudice her clients, according to McAfee.

— allie morris, San Antonio Express-News, "Only all-woman Texas Supreme Court panel a rarity in 1925 — and today," 31 Dec. 2017
Puzanov declined to provide further details on how the study is progressing — standard practice for researchers who don’t want to prejudice results before trials are complete.

— mimi whitefield, miamiherald, "U.S. and Cuban researchers join forces to bring lung cancer patients new hope," 20 Dec. 2017
In recent days, Trump has had new ammunition to support his claims that the Mueller probe is prejudiced against him.

— stephen collinson, CNN, "Trump escalates 'rigged system' rhetoric amid Russia probe," 9 Dec. 2017
The system is designed to favour electoral alliances which, on the face of it, should prejudice the stand-alone M5S. Yet all the projections of its effects give the M5S enough seats to prevent either left or right from winning a majority.

— The Economist, "Still not fixedA new voting law for Italy," 31 Oct. 2017
Now, whether that prejudices them one way or the other in the investigation remains to be seen.

— peter nicholas, WSJ, "Attorney Says Trump Legal Team Not Working to Discredit Russia Probe," 21 July 2017
Trump has made consistent appeals to prejudice based on religion and ethnicity, and associated the Republican Party with bias.

— michael gerson, Alaska Dispatch News, "The endgame of the GOP’s accommodation with Trump," 20 June 2017
The committee has not succeeded in eliminating appeals to prejudice.

— howard cohen, miamiherald, "Parker Thomson, acclaimed attorney and the man behind the Arsht Center, dies at 85," 4 Nov. 2017
Landrieu's attorneys have also contended that the court was prejudiced in not acknowledging before the jury that a federal civil lawsuit had been filed against Landrieu by Harris, his accuser.

— beau evans, NOLA.com, "Kenneth Landrieu denied new trial in 2015 road-rage case," 20 Oct. 2017

Origin and Etymology of prejudice

see ¹prejudice

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

See Words from the same year

prejudice Synonyms

Synonyms

bias, poison, turn

Related Words

dispose, incline, predispose; influence, prepossess; convince, persuade, suggest

PREJUDICE Defined for English Language Learners

prejudice

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

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

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

verb

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

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

3 a : 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

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

Learn More about prejudice

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prejudice

Definition of prejudice

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Examples of prejudice in a Sentence

Recent Examples of prejudice from the Web

Prejudice: For or Against?

Origin and Etymology of prejudice

prejudice Synonyms

Synonyms

Antonyms

Related Words

Near Antonyms

Synonym Discussion of prejudice

Other Sociology Terms

prejudice

Definition of prejudice

Examples of prejudice in a Sentence

Recent Examples of prejudice from the Web

Origin and Etymology of prejudice

prejudice Synonyms

Synonyms

Related Words

PREJUDICE Defined for English Language Learners

prejudice

Definition of prejudice for English Language Learners

prejudice

Definition of prejudice for English Language Learners

PREJUDICE Defined for Kids

prejudice

Definition of prejudice for Students

prejudice

Definition of prejudice for Students

Law Dictionary

prejudice

legal Definition of prejudice

Origin and Etymology of prejudice

prejudice

legal Definition of prejudice

Learn More about prejudice

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