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prejudice Definition

preju·dice (prej′ə dis)

noun

  1. a judgment or opinion formed before the facts are known; preconceived idea, favorable or, more usually, unfavorable
    1. a judgment or opinion held in disregard of facts that contradict it; unreasonable bias a prejudice against modern art
    2. the holding of such judgments or opinions
  3. suspicion, intolerance, or irrational hatred of other races, creeds, regions, occupations, etc.
  4. injury or harm resulting as from some judgment or action of another or others

Etymology: ME < MFr < L praejudicium < prae-, before (see pre-) + judicium, judgment < judex (gen. judicis), judge

transitive verb -·diced, -·dic·ing

  1. to injure or harm, as by some judgment or action
  2. to cause to have or show prejudice; bias

prejudice Idioms

without prejudice

  1. without detriment or injury
  2. Law without dismissal of or detriment to (a legal right, claim, etc.): often with to
prejudice Synonyms

prejudice

n.

bias, partiality, unfairness, preconception, predilection, leaning, bent, bigotry, intolerance, prejudgment, prepossession, presupposition, discrimination, racism, sexism, ageism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, chauvinism, male chauvinism, misogyny, misandry, xenophobia, one-sidedness, favoritism, partisanship, narrow-mindedness, narrowness, parochialism, small-mindedness, illiberality, littleness, enmity, dislike, antagonism, antipathy, aversion, resentment, coolness, contempt, bad opinion, misjudgment, blinders, jaundice, jaundiced eye, tunnel vision, segregation, apartheid, detriment, disadvantage, slant, warp, twist; see also hatred 1, 2, inclination 1, objection 2, spite.

Antonyms impartiality, tolerance, admiration.

prejudice implies a preconceived and unreasonable judgment or opinion, usually an unfavorable one marked by suspicion, fear, or hatred a crime motivated by racial prejudice; bias implies a mental leaning in favor of or against someone or something that interferes with impartial judgment few of us are without bias of any kind; partiality implies an inclination to favor a person or thing because of strong fondness or attachment the conductor's partiality for the works of Brahms; predilection implies a preconceived liking, formed as a result of one's background, temperament, etc., that inclines one to a particular preference a predilection for murder mysteries

without prejudice

  1. unbiased, objective, unprejudiced, disinterested; see fair 1.

  2. not damaged, not discredited, unaltered, without implied comment;

prejudice Law Definition

n

A leaning toward one side in a lawsuit; an opinion held favoring one side without having heard the case; a predisposition or bias. See also dismissal (dismissal with prejudice) and (dismissal without prejudice).
prejudice Usage Examples

Object

  • proceeding: Recovery of an overpayment will not prejudice any criminal proceedings that may be taken by the Council in respect of fraudulent overpayments.
  • administration: Examples include some details about law enforcement, and where disclosure could prejudice the administration of justice.
  • investigation: However, in some instances obtaining consent may be difficult ( e.g. in some cases of child protection ) and may prejudice an investigation.

Converse of object

  • overcome: Often derided by lesser men, he overcame the prejudice against his social background to reach the summit of world football.
  • institutionalize: The way ahead We must guard our institutions against what can become institutionalized prejudices.
  • combat: Discuss the feelings that people would have after the war and how you must try and combat prejudice.
  • outweigh: If this is proved, whether your case outweighs this prejudice.
  • suffer: It had been accepted that the executors would not suffer prejudice in the accepted sense of the word.

Adjective modifier

  • racial: She has also done some work on national identity and racial prejudice.
  • unwitting: Organizations are required to examine all their functions and policies to determine that unwitting prejudice is not taking place.
  • deep-seated: With me it's all about deep-seated prejudices and emotional connections.
  • ingrained: Much more important than logic was his unfailing ability to appeal to deeply ingrained prejudices and beliefs.
  • unthinking: It was a horrifying demonstration of our unthinking prejudices.

Modifies a noun

  • enforcement: Information the disclosure of which would prejudice law enforcement.

Modifying Another Word

  • unfairly: Use of IT is acceptable only if no party to the case will be unfairly prejudiced and its use will save time or money.

Preposition: in

  • favor: Under a correct and firm party leadership this majority is ridding itself of pseudo-revolutionary prejudices in favor of genuine Communist politics.
  • workplace: More recently, she has experienced a lot of prejudice in the workplace culminating in her resignation a year ago.

Preposition: of

  • voter: Policy is calibrated around the preferences and prejudices of swing voters, not core voters who are taking the strain.
prejudice Quotes

The dramatic critic who is without prejudice is on the plane with the general who does not believe in taking human life.

—Nathan, GeorgeJean

Information, freefrominterestorprejudice, freefromthe vanity of the writer or the influence of a Government, is as necessary to the human mind as pure air and water to the human body.

—Rees-Mogg,William Rees-Mogg, Baron

I have but one request to make at my departure from this world, it isöthe charity of its silence. Let no man write my epitaph; for as no man who knows my motives, dare now vindicate them, let no prejudice or ignorance asperse them. Let them rest in obscurity and peace! Let my memory be left in oblivion, and my tomb remain uninscribed, until other times and other men can do justicetomycharacter.Whenmycountry takesher place among thenations of the earth, then, and not till then, let my epitaph be written.

—Emmet, Robert

Fortunately forpoetsandthosewho liketowalk about in the open air, the beauty of landscape is not something that can be reduced easily to basic geology or a few ready-wrapped phrases about what places are used for. Preference and prejudice creep in.

—Hillaby,John

   Mr Squeers's appearance was not prepossessing. He had but one eye, and the popular prejudice runs in favour of two.

—Dickens, CharlesJohn Huffam

Prejudice, n. Avagrant opinion without visible means of support.

—Bierce, Ambrose Gwinett

Race prejudice isnot onlya shadowover the coloredöit is a shadow over all of us, and the shadow is darkest over those who feel it least and allow its evil effects to go on.

—Buck, Pearl ne¤  e Sydenstricker

The worst mistake I made was that stupid, suburban prejudice of anti-Semitism.

—Pound, Ezra Loomis

Though one eye may be very agreeable, yet as the prejudice has always run in favour of two, I would not wish to affect a singularity in that article.

—Sheridan, Richard Brinsley

I've an irritating chuckle, I've a celebrated sneer, I've an entertaining snigger, I've a fascinating leer. To everybody's prejudice I know a thing or two; I can tell a woman's age in half a minuteöand I do. But although I try to make myself as pleasant as I can, Yet everybody says I'm such a disagreeable man!

—Gilbert, Sir W(illiam) S(chwenck)

Travel is fatal to prejudice.

—Twain, Mark pseudonym of  Samuel Langhorne Clemens