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ostracize

OSS-truh-size /ˈɑː.strə.saɪz/

verbC1GRESAT

academicliterarygeneral

To exclude or banish someone from a society, group, or social circle by common consent.

Implies a deliberate collective decision by a dominant group to give someone the 'cold shoulder' or banish them.

The story behind the word. In ancient Athens, citizens voted annually to banish dangerous citizens for ten years by scratching names onto broken pottery pieces called 'ostraka'.

Word relationships

exile: Exile usually implies official political banishment from a country, while ostracize focuses on social exclusion from a group.
shun: Shun describes individual avoidance behavior, whereas ostracize implies a collective social banishment.

welcome: Welcome means to receive someone cordially and integrate them into a group.
embrace: Embrace means to accept enthusiastically into a social circle.

Commonly confused with

marginalize: Marginalize means pushing a group to the powerless edges; ostracize means active, total expulsion from social contact.

Word family

ostracism (noun): Exclusion by general consent from social acceptance.

Collocations

socially ostracize
ostracize a member
completely ostracize

Example sentences

"Homeowners who agreed to sell their property to minority buyers were sometimes ostracized by their neighbors." Civil rights community action
"Whistleblowers who reported municipal corruption found themselves ostracized by former colleagues." Corporate ethics

Memory hook

OSTRAKA (broken pottery piece) = writing a name on a clay shard to vote someone out of the city. Vote out on a clay shard.

When not to use

Avoid using for physical imprisonment or legal fines that do not involve social expulsion.

Fun facts

Archaeologists in Athens have excavated over 10,000 ancient 'ostraka' clay shards bearing the names of famous leaders like Themistocles.