The Meaning of Prejudice: What It Is and How To Use It

Do you know the meaning of prejudice? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on the word prejudice!

Your writing, at its best

Compose bold, clear, mistake-free, writing with Grammarly's AI-powered writing assistant

The word prejudice (ˈprɛdʒʊdɪs) can be used as a noun or a verb. As a noun, this word refers to a preconceived judgment or attitude against an individual or group based on their characteristics. As a verb, this word means to cause damage by this judgment or action.

People can have preconceived opinions about many different things that cause prejudices. Some examples of groups or categories that people are prejudiced against might include people of a specific race, a particular social group, a religion, sex discrimination, or other categories. 

People who are prejudiced are often sexists or racists. Many times, a prejudice is an unfavorable opinion or unreasonable opinion based on biases. Such attitudes can lead to a hostile nature of partiality.

Everyone has some form of prejudice whether intentional or not. Make sure that you work to overcome your own prejudice so that you can treat people with equality.

Translations of Prejudice

Are you learning a new language? If you are studying a foreign language or planning travel to a foreign country, it might be useful to know translations of the word prejudice. While learning new words in different languages can be difficult, this list of translations of prejudice from Word Sense is a great place to start. 

How many of these translations of prejudice do you already know? Are any of these words or languages new to you? 

  •  Hungarian: előítélet‎
  •  Portuguese: preconceito‎ 
  •  Norwegian: fordom‎ 
  •  Serbo-Croatian: предрасуда‎
  •  Estonian: eelarvamus‎
  •  Danish: fordom‎ (common)
  •  Greek: προκατάληψη‎ 
  •  Russian: предубежде́ние‎, предрассу́док‎, предвзя́тость‎ 
  •  Romanian: prejudecată‎ 
  •  Dutch: bevooroordelen‎, vooroordeel‎
  •  Arabic: تَحَيُّز‎ 
  •  Finnish: ennakkoluulo‎
  •  Korean: 편견‎
  •  Polish: uprzedzenie‎ 
  •  Spanish: prejuicio‎ 
  •  German: Vorurteil‎, Voreingenommenheit‎ 
  •  Persian: پیشداوری‎ (pišdâvari)
  •  French: préjugé‎ 
  •  Japanese: 偏見‎ (へんけん, henken), 僻見‎ (へきけん, hekiken), 先入観‎ (せんにゅうかん, sennyūkan)
  •  Armenian: նախապաշարմունք‎
  •  Czech: předsudek‎ 
  •  Macedonian: предрасуда‎
  •  Latvian: aizspriedums‎ 
  •  Bashkir: хөрәфәт‎
  •  Mandarin: 成見‎, 成见‎ (chéngjiàn), 偏見‎, 偏见‎ (piānjiàn)
  •  Slovak: predsudok‎ 
  •  Swedish: fördom‎ (common)
  •  Lithuanian: išankstinis nusistatymas‎ 

What Is the Origin of the Word Prejudice?

According to Etymonline, the word prejudice has been used since Middle English around the year 1300. It comes from the Old French préjudice, the Medieval Latin prejudicium, the Latin praejūdicium and prejudgment, and the Latin prae.

Example Sentences for the Word Prejudice

Using words in a sentence is an excellent way to memorize their definitions. Even if you can define a word, it is not as useful if you cannot use it in a sentence. Take a look at the below example sentences that contain the word prejudice. Then, try coming up with your own example sentences or using the word prejudice in a sentence in daily life!

The plaintiff was accused of prejudicing the jury, and the judge called for dismissal and retrial of the case. The defendant was frustrated at the inadequate facts that were presented and the kinds of decisions made in the lawsuit.

The voters were prejudiced against the candidate because of her national origin. Their retaliation toward her for her Hindi background harmed her numbers, and she lost the election. Frustrated, she decided to run again the following year and lean into what her national background taught her.

The employees were prejudiced against the national group of supervisors in France because of a perceived judgment of social norms. The employees always felt harshly judged by the French, when in reality, they were the ones who were doing the judging.

We can all get past our prejudices if we practice honesty and sincerity and learn about other people. We are all human, and we should all be able to find common ground.

What Are Synonyms of the Word Prejudice?

Are you trying to avoid repeating using the same word in your speech or writing? Synonyms are a great place to start. Even if you are talking about prejudice or writing something about prejudice, you want to avoid using the word prejudice in every sentence. 

You can spice up your word usage by learning about synonyms using this list from Power Thesaurus

  •   partisanship
  •   bias
  •   sexism
  •   narrow-mindedness
  •   intolerance
  •   racism
  •   injustice
  •   damage
  •   impair
  •   bent
  •   injure
  •   prejudgment
  •   bigotry
  •   predilection
  •   harm
  •   hurt
  •   warp
  •   discrimination
  •   prepossess
  •   inequity
  •   leaning
  •   one-sidedness
  •   predisposition
  •   inclination
  •   preconceived notion
  •   undermine
  •   favoritism
  •   incline
  •   detriment
  •   influence
  •   partiality
  •   disadvantage
  •   preconception
  •   favoritism
  •   sway
  •   preconceived idea
  •   predispose
  •   unfairness
  •   prepossession
  •   slant

What Are Antonyms for the Word Prejudice?

Learning words that have the opposite meaning of prejudice is a great way to grow your knowledge of English-language words. Take a look at this list of antonyms of prejudice from Power Thesaurus and see how many you are familiar with already:

  • detachment
  •  equity
  •  nonpartisanship
  •  equal treatment
  •  indifference
  •  abhorrence
  •  neutrality
  •  truth
  •  objectiveness
  •  compensate
  •  tolerance
  •  benefit
  •  objectivity
  •  respect
  •  aggravate
  •  absence of bias
  •  aid
  •  dispassionateness
  •  dislike
  •  help
  •  fairness
  •  approve
  •  justness
  •  neutralism
  •  gender equality
  •  sympathy
  •  even-handedness
  •  open-mindedness
  •  evenhandedness
  •  fair-mindedness
  •  equal opportunity
  •  disinterest
  •  equal rights
  •  impartiality
  •  fair treatment
  •  dispassion
  •  equitability
  •  virtue
  •  equal opportunities
  •  disinterestedness
  •  goodness
  •  regard
  •  justice
  •  use

Conclusion

Overall, the word prejudice refers to an unfair feeling of dislike toward someone. This usually stems from preconceived notions about a specific social group, religion, or background. 

Prejudice is usually uncalled for and can lead to harsh judgment or even violence. While we all have prejudices, make sure that you work hard to eliminate your own biases and treat people equally.

Sources:

  1. Etymology, origin, and meaning of prejudice | Etymonline 
  2. Prejudice: meaning, origin, translation | WordSense Dictionary 
  3. Prejudice synonyms – 1 724 Words and Phrases for Prejudice | Power Thesaurus 
  4. Opposites of Prejudice | Power Thesaurus