prejudicial
Americanadjective
adjective
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
Etymology
Origin of prejudicial
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Late Latin praejūdiciālis; see 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."
Vocabulary lists containing prejudicial
Wonder
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Just Mercy
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: pre-
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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.
Prejudicial evidence is unnecessary information that can unfairly impact a case, while probative evidence can prove a relevant fact.
From Salon • May 8, 2024
"Prejudicial . . . misconduct," shouted Gladstein, Lawyer Harry Sacher demanded a mistrial.
From Time Magazine Archive
I. That the Gospel omits some qualifies which have usually engaged the praises and admiration of mankind, but which, in reality, and in their general effects, have been Prejudicial to human happiness.
From Evidence of Christianity by Paley, William
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.
