marginalize
verb
Did you know?
Marginalized Writing vs. Marginalized People
Marginalize provides a striking case of how thoroughly the figurative use of a word can take over the literal one. The original (and now obsolete) meaning of this word, “to write notes in the margin of,” is analogous to the still-familiar noun marginalia, “marginal notes or embellishments." A margin is, of course, the blank space surrounding the text in a book. Just prior to 1970, marginalize took on the sense that is most commonly encountered today, “to relegate to an unimportant or powerless position” (that is, to the metaphorical margins of society). This use of the verb can be found as far back as 1968; an article in The Los Angeles Times from June 20th of that year reports, “[T]he Negro was kept aside, marginalized, thus composing in its large majority the chronically poor.” In its newer sense, marginalize has assumed a much more prominent place in the vocabulary than it once had.
Examples of marginalize in a Sentence
Hannah Wohl, The Conversation, 7 Jan. 2025
Others will be mocked, marginalized, and even vilified.
—David Rosowsky, Forbes, 5 Jan. 2025
Their work was widely read by the construction industry yet simultaneously marginalized.
—Thomas Heatherwick, WIRED, 2 Jan. 2025
After all, those guys had their say back in the earliest days of cinema, theoretically making this the era of BIPOC and otherwise marginalized creators like Shonda Rhimes, Tanya Saracho, Mindy Kaling, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, and Jaclyn Moore.
—Emma Specter, Vogue, 18 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for marginalize 
Dictionary Entries Near marginalize
Cite this Entry
“Marginalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/marginalize. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
marginalize
verb
Share