marginalize
verb
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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
Barak Ravid, Axios, 2 Feb. 2025
The lead performances are broad but engaging, with Chow excelling as the mouthpiece for a community that has been exploited, marginalized and mistreated for decades.
—James Marsh, Deadline, 31 Jan. 2025
What is empowering for one woman in a certain context can inadvertently harm or marginalize other women.
—Chicago Tribune, 31 Jan. 2025
Just as the rural is shorn of indigenous flora and female fetuses, as Balya observes in macabre ordinary fashion (referring to high rates of female infanticide), the dream of a life spent with special friend is a depletion reimagined as a marginal gain by the marginalized.
—Ritesh Mehta, IndieWire, 26 Jan. 2025
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 6 Feb. 2025.
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marginalize
verb
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