prejudicial

American  

[prej-uh-dish-uhl] / ˌprɛdʒ əˈdɪʃ əl /

adjective

1. causing prejudice or disadvantage; detrimental.

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prejudicial British  

/ ˌprɛdʒʊˈdɪʃəl /

adjective

1. causing prejudice; detrimental or damaging

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Usage

What does prejudicial mean? Prejudicial means based on or causing prejudice—a bias or a preconceived opinion, idea, or belief about something. Describing actions as prejudicial often implies that the person doing them has made up their mind about something and has made 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 prejudicial beliefs often create stereotypes about members of such groups. Describing something as prejudicial often implies that it’s detrimental—meaning it causes harm. Most forms of discrimination are prejudicial. Another adjective form of the word prejudice is prejudiced, which is used to describe someone who has a prejudice against others. Example: This is a clear case of prejudicial treatment—email records show that she was not considered for the job solely because she is Black.

Other Word Forms

• nonprejudicial adjective
• nonprejudicially adverb
• prejudicially adverb
• prejudicialness noun
• unprejudicial adjective
• unprejudicially adverb

Etymology

Origin of prejudicial

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Late Latin praejūdiciālis; prejudice, -al ¹

Explanation

If something is prejudicial, it's unfairly biased or damaging. If you've already decided that you don't like your new biology teacher before you've even met her, you're treating her in a prejudicial way. While prejudicial can be used as a synonym for prejudiced or biased, it's more commonly used to simply mean "damaging." A child's temper tantrum is prejudicial to the teacher's control of a preschool class. And a negative opinion piece in the newspaper about a local car dealer might be prejudicial to its business — in other words, it might hurt car sales. The Medieval Latin root is prejudicialis, "injurious."

Example Sentences

The secretary issued a “letter of censure” against Sen. Kelly “for conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline in the armed forces and conduct unbecoming an officer.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 16, 2026

There are very few instances of trials having ever been completely derailed by allegedly prejudicial public comment - and judges direct to juries to ignore media reports or comment outside of court.

From BBC • Sep. 3, 2025

It is the “knowing and willful disclosure of classified information,” including communication, publication, or use in a way prejudicial to the U.S. or beneficial to a foreign government.

From Salon • Mar. 27, 2025

Defense attorney Cameron Talley said such questioning would be “so incredibly prejudicial it would require a mistrial.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 22, 2025

All of the prejudicial media coverage would make a fair trial nearly impossible.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Related Words

• biased
• bigoted
• counterproductive
• damaging
• detrimental
• disadvantageous
• discriminatory
• hurtful
• inimical
• injurious
• unfavorable
• unjust