prejudice

1 of 2

noun

prej·​u·​dice ˈpre-jə-dəs How to pronounce prejudice (audio)
1
: injury or damage resulting from some judgment or action of another in disregard of one's rights
especially : detriment to one's legal rights or claims
2
a(1)
: preconceived judgment or opinion
(2)
: an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge
b
: an instance of such judgment or opinion
c
: an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics

prejudice

2 of 2

verb

prejudiced; prejudicing

transitive verb

1
: to injure or damage by some judgment or action (as in a case of law)
2
: to cause to have prejudice

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Prejudice: For or Against?

Although prejudice, with its connotations of intolerance , implies a negative bias, the word can be used in positive constructions:

I, too, appreciate projects that treat a difficult subject with rigor, although I'll confess to harboring a bit of prejudice toward thing-biographies.
Adam Baer, Harper's, May 2011

That's true for the participial adjective prejudiced as well:

“The question itself as posed in the survey obviously is prejudiced in favor of the program,” said Tod Story, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada.
Neal Morton, Las Vegas Review Journal, 2 Aug. 2016

In negative constructions, prejudice and prejudiced often precede against:

Lee County Circuit Judge Jacob Walker on Tuesday ruled that claims of juror misconduct by former House Speaker Mike Hubbard failed to show that the jury was prejudiced against Hubbard.
Mike Cason, AL.com, 19 Oct. 2016

Choose the Right Synonym for prejudice

predilection, prepossession, prejudice, bias mean an attitude of mind that predisposes one to favor something.

predilection implies a strong liking deriving from one's temperament or experience.

a predilection for travel

prepossession suggests a fixed conception likely to preclude objective judgment of anything counter to it.

a prepossession against technology

prejudice usually implies an unfavorable prepossession and connotes a feeling rooted in suspicion, fear, or intolerance.

a mindless prejudice against the unfamiliar

bias implies an unreasoned and unfair distortion of judgment in favor of or against a person or thing.

a strong bias toward the plaintiff

Examples of prejudice in a Sentence

Noun But today most black Americans not hampered by poverty or prejudice take for granted their right to study Italian, listen to Britney Spears or opera, play in the NHL, eat Thai food, live anywhere, work anywhere, play anywhere, read and think and say anything. Stephan Talty, Mulatto America, 2003
It is easy to suppose at this late date that there is barely any overt racism left in the United States,  … Kennedy's catalog of mundane cases of explicit anti-black prejudice provides ample illustration of what lurks beneath the surface politeness of many whites. John McWhorter, New Republic, 14 Jan. 2002
The boundaries between hate and prejudice and between prejudice and opinion and between opinion and truth are so complicated and blurred that any attempt to construct legal and political fire walls is a doomed and illiberal venture. Andrew Sullivan, New York Times Magazine, 26 Sept. 1999
When my mother, who, unlike my father, was Jewish, encountered unpleasant social prejudice during my high-school years, I acquired a second marginal identity. Carl E. Schorske, Thinking with History, 1998
The organization fights against racial prejudice. religious, racial, and sexual prejudices We tend to make these kinds of decisions according to our own prejudices. He has a prejudice against fast-food restaurants. Verb Paul Revere … engraved the drawing and printed hundreds of vividly colored copies, which traveled throughout the colonies. Well might one judge at Captain Preston's trial complain that "there has been a great deal done to prejudice the People against the Prisoner." Hiller B. Zobel, American Heritage, July/August 1995
My friends would have had me delay my departure, but fearful of prejudicing my employers against me by such want of punctuality at the commencement of my undertaking, I persisted in keeping the appointment. Anne Brontë, Agnes Grey, 1847
all the bad stories I had heard about the incoming CEO prejudiced me against him even before the first meeting
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Last August, lawyers for Gutierrez Reed dismissed the product liability suit with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled. Gene Maddaus, Variety, 11 Mar. 2024 Here, his youth was marked by his differences— he was ridiculed for speaking Spanish during a time of anti-Latino prejudice in the ’80s, and like many LGBTQ+ kids of his era, was restricted from playing with dolls. Steven Vargas, Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2024 Those of us in the making of the film ended up correcting mistakes … suggestions put in place by interpretations, prejudices and truths that built so many monsters of Florence. Boris Sollazzo, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Feb. 2024 Despite more and more companies implementing measures to strengthen inclusivity and fair hiring, things like unconscious prejudices are hard to detect and change. Federico Sendra, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024 The case was discontinued on February 15, with prejudice—meaning the woman cannot refile—and without costs to either party, according to documents viewed by Pitchfork. Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 21 Feb. 2024 The plaintiff’s attorney Doug Wigdor filed a notice of discontinuance with prejudice on Feb. 15, permanently dropping the suit. Ethan Millman, Rolling Stone, 20 Feb. 2024 The insecurities, the hates, the fears, the prejudices outside vanish in a haze of camp. Penelope Green, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2024 The expert panel concluded that clinicians’ prejudices could also contribute. Ronnie Cohen, Los Angeles Times, 29 Feb. 2024
Verb
But during trial, he's allowed to wear normal clothes to avoid prejudicing the jury against him. Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press, 7 Mar. 2024 Gillen and Sadow said the speech was designed to prejudice potential jurors against the defendants. Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 1 Mar. 2024 Defense attorneys have argued bringing this stuff in will prejudice the jury against them. Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News, 9 Feb. 2024 This means that improper contact or improper conversations with a juror alone may not be enough to grant a retrial if there is no evidence the juror or jurors in question were prejudiced into making a decision. Michael M. Dewitt, USA TODAY, 17 Jan. 2024 The city of Montgomery, which continues to provide Barber’s legal defense, has argued successfully that releasing the video would prejudice any future jury. Umar Farooq, ProPublica, 28 Dec. 2023 The justices agreed that the removal of juror No. 5 was unfounded and had prejudiced the outcome of the case. Thomas Curwen, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2023 But, Weinstein asserted, because of the nature of rap music, with its violence and extreme language, the lyrics will unfairly prejudice the jury. CBS News, 10 Nov. 2023 The former president's language, prosecutors argued, has the possibility of prejudicing the trial — which Chutkan has said will begin on March 4, 2024 — and should be restrained as a result. Robert Legare, CBS News, 26 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'prejudice.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin praejudicium previous judgment, damage, from prae- + judicium judgment — more at judicial

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of prejudice was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near prejudice

Cite this Entry

“Prejudice.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prejudice. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

prejudice

1 of 2 noun
prej·​u·​dice ˈprej-əd-əs How to pronounce prejudice (audio)
1
: injury or damage to a case at law or to one's rights
2
a
: a favoring or dislike of something without good reason
b
: unfriendly feelings directed against an individual, a group, or a race

prejudice

2 of 2 verb
prejudiced; prejudicing
1
: to cause damage to (as a case at law)
newspaper stories prejudiced the murder case
2
: to cause to have prejudice : bias
the incident prejudiced them against that company
Etymology

Noun

Middle English prejudice "injury from a judgment, an opinion formed before knowing the facts," from early French prejudice (same meaning), from Latin praejudicium "previous judgment," from prae- "pre-, before" and judicium "judgment," from judic-, judex "judge," from jus "right, law" and dicere "to say" — related to judge, just

Legal Definition

prejudice

1 of 2 noun
prej·​u·​dice ˈpre-jə-dəs How to pronounce prejudice (audio)
1
: injury or detriment to one's legal rights or claims (as from the action of another): as
a
: substantial impairment of a defendant's ability to defend
the court found no prejudice to the defendant by the lengthy delay in bringing charges
b
: tendency for a decision on an improper basis (as past conduct) by a trier of fact
whether an ex parte communication to a deliberating jury resulted in any reasonable possibility of prejudice to the defendantNational Law Journal
c
: implied waiver of rights and privileges not explicitly retained
District Court erred in attaching prejudice to prisoner's complaint for injunctive reliefNational Law Journal
2
: a final and binding decision (as an adjudication on the merits) that bars further prosecution of the same cause of action or motion
dismisses this case with prejudice
the dismissal was without prejudice
3
a
: an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics
the Constitution does not prohibit laws based on prejudice per seR. H. Bork
b
: an attitude or disposition (as of a judge) that prevents impartiality
that the judge before whom the matter is pending has a personal bias or prejudice…against himU.S. Code

prejudice

2 of 2 transitive verb
prejudiced; prejudicing
1
: to injure or damage the rights of by some legal action or prejudice
if the joinder of offenses or defendants…appears to prejudice a defendant or the governmentFederal Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 14
2
: to injure or damage (rights) by some legal action or prejudice
that the denial prejudiced his right to a fair trial
this clause does not prejudice other rights
Etymology

Noun

Old French, from Latin praejudicium previous judgment, damage, from prae- before + judicium judgment

More from Merriam-Webster on prejudice

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