ostracize
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to exclude, by general consent, from society, friendship, conversation, privileges, etc..
His friends ostracized him after his father's arrest.
- Antonyms:
- accept
-
to banish (a person) from their native country; expatriate.
-
(in ancient Greece) to banish (a citizen) temporarily by popular vote.
verb
-
to exclude or banish (a person) from a particular group, society, etc
-
(in ancient Greece) to punish by temporary exile
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
ostracizesimple
-
ostracizessimple
-
have ostracizedperfect
-
has ostracizedperfect
-
am ostracizingprogressive
-
are ostracizingprogressive
-
is ostracizingprogressive
-
have been ostracizingperfect progressive
-
has been ostracizingperfect progressive
Past
-
ostracizedsimple
-
had ostracizedperfect
-
was ostracizingprogressive
-
were ostracizingprogressive
-
had been ostracizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ostracize
First recorded in 1640–50; from Greek ostrakízein, equivalent to óstrak(on) “potsherd, tile, ballot” (akin to óstreion oyster ( def. ) ) + -izein -ize ( def. )
Explanation
If you banish someone or ignore him, you ostracize him. When the Iranian president claimed that the Holocaust was a hoax, he was ostracized by the international community. Ostraka is an ancient Greek word for pottery shard. Thousands of years ago, in the Greek city of Athens, there was a public process where you would write the name of someone you wanted to kick out of town on a broken ceramic fragment. If enough Athenians wrote the same name, that person was sent away for ten years. This process was called an ostracism.
Vocabulary lists containing ostracize
Grade 10, List 2
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
100 Words to Make You Sound Smart
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
The Catcher in the Rye
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Lily decides to ostracize herself before eventually being saved — and redeemed — by the rest of the toys, but by then, it’s too late.
From Salon • Jun. 21, 2026
When the Athenians voted to ostracize him, he became a Persian governor.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 9, 2026
I think the minute that you do that, you you ostracize half the community.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2022
Irish Spring soap makes its Super Bowl debut with a spot that posits a world in which Irish people in cable-knit sweaters will ostracize you if you smell bad.
From Slate • Feb. 14, 2022
“Look, I wasn’t trying to ostracize anybody. It’s just that she — he lied about who he was.”
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
