ostracize
Americanverb (used with object)
-
ostracizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ostracized,
past participle, past
-
ostracizing
present participle
-
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.
See Examples For:
When the Athenians voted to ostracize him, he became a Persian governor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 9, 2026
“The Traitors” is a social game, so when Funches’ early big swing at another contestant misses terribly, the rest of the players instantly ostracize him.
From Salon ● Jan. 28, 2026
Rather than ostracize the neighborhood’s teenagers, he wants to find ways to engage them and show them the value of being part of a culture.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2023
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
I want to see the kingdom ostracize him.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
Will's signature swagger, which was once-revered in his old town, now ostracizes him from his peers and loved ones.
From Salon ● Feb. 12, 2022
The film portrays how Japanese society, often working like a claustrophobic village, ostracizes and punishes what it sees as erring individuals.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 24, 2021
Mesa County’s “siloed, non-collaborative behavior ostracizes us from our Western Slope neighbors,” she added.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 6, 2019
A man searches for answers a decade after his close-knit high school clique inexplicably ostracizes him.
From Slate ● Nov. 30, 2014
Your view of her situation is admirable, and, by your skilful tactique, it is she herself that ostracizes the society that would only have accepted her on sufferance.
From The Fortunes Of Glencore by Charles James Lever
And now, all of these years later, you feel ostracized from your remaining family and, more than that, you were left with a few mementoes of those formative years and no inheritance.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
But pro-Soviet intellectuals ostracized him when he dared to speak honestly about life behind the Iron Curtain.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
Her being ostracized in season 2 is a direct result of her bad decisions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 6, 2026
It hosts many animals that previously were injured, ostracized from their social groups or illegally kept as pets — such as Neil.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2025
Even after all this time, my mom was still ostracized for something that happened long ago.
From "Because of Mr. Terupt" by Rob Buyea
Some believe the erasure of Black LGBTQ+ leaders stems from respectability politics, a strategy in some marginalized communities of ostracizing or punishing members who don’t assimilate into the dominant culture.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 12, 2023
The Vatican has long argued that in some countries, reporting claims to law enforcement could result in the ostracizing of victims and potentially a death sentence for the accused.
From New York Times ● Mar. 25, 2023
Instead of ostracizing Black, some of the students tried to change his mind.
From Slate ● Jan. 11, 2023
“The real harm to transgender youth lies in the bullying and ostracizing that they face for being branded as ‘different.’”
From Washington Times ● Mar. 9, 2022
With the conviction that she is past redemption, doors closed, no one loving her, people, yes, her own sex, ostracizing her—she becomes hopeless, desperate, reckless.
From Fighting the Traffic in Young Girls or, War on the White Slave Trade by Ernest A. (Ernest Albert) Bell
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.
