Ostracize
High school cafeterias and ancient Athens both knew this social move: you are not arrested, you are just outside the circle.
Learn This WordMeaning
To exclude someone from a group or society; to shun.
Memory trick
OSTRACIZE = ancient Greek vote with pottery shards to banish someone, exclude from the group.
Examples
After the leak, teammates ostracized him in subtle ways.
No one should be ostracized for asking hard questions.
The community ostracized anyone who broke the unwritten rules.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From Greek ostrakizein "to banish by potsherd vote," from ostrakon "potsherd, shell."
Usage Notes
Serious word for social exclusion; use with care in sensitive contexts.
Real-life contexts
Use for culture: "We accidentally ostracize people who disagree."
Use for inclusion: "How do we ensure new hires aren’t ostracized?"
Use in stories: "She was ostracized for telling the truth."
Common Mistakes
Ostracize is transitive: you ostracize a person, not "ostracize from" without an object.
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Part of Speech
verb
Difficulty
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