Ostracism
OSS-truh-siz-uhm
/ˈɑː.strə.sɪz.əm/
Exclusion from a society or group by general consent.
Represents a subtle yet powerful social punishment executed through silent rejection or intentional exclusion.
The story behind the word. In ancient Athens, citizens voted to banish dangerous individuals by scratching their names onto broken pottery pieces called 'ostraka'. A person receiving enough votes was exiled for ten years.
Word relationships
- shunning: Shunning is deliberate personal avoidance, while ostracism can be an organized institutional or group-wide rejection.
- inclusion: The state or practice of welcoming and integrating individuals into a group.
Commonly confused with
- Isolation: Isolation describes being physically alone; ostracism is being actively rejected and ignored by peers.
Word family
- ostracize (verb): To exclude or exclude someone from a society or group.
Collocations
- social ostracism
- face ostracism
- threat of ostracism
Idioms & expressions
- cold shoulder
- sent to Coventry
Example sentences
- "In ancestral hunter-gatherer societies, social ostracism was effectively a death sentence." Evolutionary Psychology
- "The whistleblower suffered systematic ostracism from former colleagues after revealing corporate financial misconduct." Workplace Sociology
Memory hook
OSTRACISM: Your name gets written on an ostrakon (broken pottery shard) to cast you out of town. Scratched off the list.
When not to use
Do not use for chosen solitude or temporary geographical distance.
Fun facts
- Brain imaging studies reveal that social ostracism activates the exact same neural region (dorsal anterior cingulate cortex) as physical injury.
Related words
Explore more words
ostracize, marginalization, alienate, excommunicate, banish, marginalized
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