prejudice
Americannoun
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an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.
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any preconceived opinion or feeling, either favorable or unfavorable.
- Synonyms:
- predisposition, predilection, partiality, preconception
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unreasonable feelings, opinions, or attitudes, especially of a hostile nature, regarding an ethnic, racial, social, or religious group.
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such attitudes considered collectively.
The war against prejudice is never-ending.
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damage or injury; detriment.
a law that operated to the prejudice of the majority.
verb (used with object)
idioms
noun
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an opinion formed beforehand, esp an unfavourable one based on inadequate facts
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the act or condition of holding such opinions
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intolerance of or dislike for people of a specific race, religion, etc
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disadvantage or injury resulting from prejudice
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to the detriment of
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law without dismissing or detracting from an existing right or claim
verb
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to cause to be prejudiced
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to disadvantage or injure by prejudice
Usage
What does prejudice mean? Prejudice is a bias or a preconceived opinion, idea, or belief about something.When you act based on prejudice, you make up your mind about something and make generalizations about it before fully knowing about it. Though a prejudice can be positive, the word most often refers to unfair and strongly held negative judgments—especially hostile judgments about certain people.Prejudice can refer to a specific instance of such a belief, as in He clearly has a prejudice against people of color, or such beliefs collectively, as in We need to eliminate prejudice from society. Prejudice against people can be based on many parts of their identity, including race, ethnicity, religion, gender or gender identity, sexuality, and language. Such prejudices often create stereotypes about members of such groups.A common and widespread form of prejudice is racism, in which a person believes in the superiority of what they consider to be their own “race” over others. This most often takes the form of believing that those with other skin colors—especially darker skin colors—are inferior physically, intellectually, morally, and/or culturally, and mistreating and discriminating against them because of this. However, the word racism is often used to refer to more than just a prejudice or an active hatred but to a system of oppression based on such prejudice (often called systemic racism or institutional racism).Someone who has a prejudice against others can be described as prejudiced. Unfair treatment based on prejudice or causing prejudice can be described as prejudicial.Less commonly, the word prejudice can also be used as a verb meaning to cause to be prejudiced against someone or something, as in Bad press has prejudiced many voters against the candidate.
Related Words
See bias.
Other Word Forms
- nonprejudiced adjective
- prejudicedly adverb
- prejudiceless adjective
- quasi-prejudiced adjective
Etymology
Origin of prejudice
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Old French, from Latin praejūdicium “prejudgment,” originally “preliminary or previous judicial inquiry,” equivalent to prae- pre- + jūdicium “legal proceedings, judging” ( jūdic-, stem of jūdex judge + -ium -ium )
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.
Racial resentment is a scale that social scientists have used to describe and measure anti-Black prejudice since the 1980s.
From Salon
Still, I have my prejudices, my cherished blind spots.
And in fact, I did find the company of the adults more interesting — which, sure, might be my own generational prejudice, but they do get the funnier lines.
From Los Angeles Times
As she writes in her introduction, she intends “to reprogram our assumptions, our prejudices and our fears” about old age.
In consequence, Messrs. Lender and Martin observe, white loyalists were prepared to override ingrained prejudices and animosities, fighting alongside Native Americans and escaped black slaves.
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.
