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marginal definition

mar·ginal (mär′jə nəl)

adjective

  1. written or printed in the margin of a page or sheet
  2. of or constituting a margin
  3. at, on, or close to the margin or border
    1. close to a margin or limit, esp. a lower limit a marginal standard of living
    2. limited; minimal
  5. Econ.
    1. on the border between being profitable and nonprofitable a marginal business, marginal land
    2. of or from goods produced and sold at margin marginal costs, marginal profits

Etymology: ML marginalis

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

medical marginal definition - medical

marginal Synonyms

marginal

modif.

  1. Borderline

    peripheral, nonessential, negligible, limited; see bordering.

  2. Barely adequate

    minimal, tolerable, passable, so-so, indifferent.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

marginal Usage Examples

Modifying Another Word

  • economically: These are peripheral locations that are economically marginal, politically powerless, remote and often contaminated.

Preposition: for

  • agriculture: Natural climate variability in areas already classified as marginal for agriculture is one of many factors driving people into poverty.

Modifies a noun

  • constituency: A swing of 12 % would be enough to win the marginal constituencies we need for a majority.

Used with adjective complement

  • remain: In spite of serious efforts, the clinical librarian in the US remains marginal.

Preposition: in

  • debate: In other words, they remain marginal in policy debates ( Kelly & Symonds, 2003 ).
marginal usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

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MLA Style

"marginal." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/marginal>

APA Style

marginal. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/marginal

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