I. prej ‧ u ‧ dice 1 /ˈpredʒədəs, ˈpredʒʊdəs/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: Latin praejudicium , from judicium 'judgment' ]
1 . [uncountable and countable] an unreasonable dislike and distrust of people who are different from you in some way, especially because of their race, sex, religion etc – used to show disapproval:
Women still face prejudice in the workplace.
It takes a long time to overcome these kinds of prejudices.
prejudice against
a cultural prejudice against fat people
racial/sexual prejudice
Asian pupils complained of racial prejudice at the school.
2 . [uncountable and countable] strong and unreasonable feelings which make you like some things but not others:
irrational prejudices
Interviewers are often influenced too much by their personal prejudices.
3 . without prejudice (to something) law without harming or affecting something:
He was able to turn down the promotion without prejudice, and applied again several years later.
4 . to the prejudice of something formal in a way that has a harmful effect or influence on something
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COLLOCATIONS
■ adjectives
▪ racial prejudice
a novel about a young white boy who is forced to confront his racial prejudice
▪ class prejudice
Those old class prejudices haven’t gone away.
▪ blind prejudice (=prejudice that stops you from considering the facts)
I tried to show him he was just talking out of blind prejudice.
▪ strong prejudice
Women who want to work in broadcasting often encounter strong prejudice.
▪ deep-seated prejudice (=very strong and difficult to change)
All these attitudes are based on deep-seated prejudice.
■ verbs
▪ experience/encounter prejudice
Students with learning difficulties often encounter prejudice.
▪ overcome prejudice
the story of how a poor kid from the ghetto overcomes poverty and prejudice
■ phrases
▪ prejudice against women/black people etc
There is still a lot of prejudice against women in positions of authority.
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THESAURUS
▪ prejudice an unreasonable dislike and distrust of people who are different from you in some way, especially because of their race, sex, religion etc:
racial prejudice
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prejudice against women
▪ discrimination the practice of treating one group of people differently from another in an unfair way:
There is widespread discrimination against older people.
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the laws on sex discrimination
▪ intolerance an unreasonable refusal to accept beliefs, customs, and ways of thinking that are different from your own:
religious intolerance
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There is an atmosphere of intolerance in the media.
▪ bigotry a completely unreasonable hatred for people of a different race, religion etc, based on strong and fixed opinions:
religious bigotry
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the bigotry directed at Jews and other ethnic groups
▪ racism/racial prejudice unfair treatment of people because they belong to a different race:
Many black people have been the victims of racism in Britain.
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Some immigrant groups faced racism, for example Jews and Italians, while others, such as Scandinavians, did not.
▪ sexism the belief that one sex, especially women, is weaker, less intelligent etc than the other, especially when this results in someone being treated unfairly:
sexism in language
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She accused him of sexism.
▪ ageism ( also agism American English ) unfair treatment of people because they are old:
The new law aims to stop ageism in the workplace.
▪ homophobia prejudice towards or hatred of gay people:
homophobia in the armed forces
▪ xenophobia /ˌzenəˈfəʊbiə $ -ˈfoʊ-/ hatred and fear of foreigners:
the xenophobia of the right-wing press
▪ anti-Semitism a strong feeling of hatred toward Jewish people:
Is anti-Semitism on the increase?
▪ Islamophobia hatred and fear of Muslims:
the rise of Islamophobia and right-wing extremism in Europe
▪ gay/union/America etc bashing unfair public criticism of gay people, union members, the American government etc:
The minister was accused of union bashing.
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There's so much America-bashing in the liberal press.
■ people who are prejudiced
▪ racist someone who treats people of other races unfairly or badly:
When he expressed his opinion, he was branded a racist.
▪ bigot someone who has strong unreasonable opinions, especially about race or religion:
a racist bigot
▪ sexist someone, especially a man, who believes that their sex is better, more intelligent, more important etc than the other:
Will the sexists ever support a female President?
II. prejudice 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
1 . to influence someone so that they have an unfair or unreasonable opinion about someone or something:
There was concern that reports in the media would prejudice the jury.
prejudice somebody against something
My own schooldays prejudiced me against all formal education.
2 . to have a bad effect on the future success or situation of someone or something:
A criminal record will prejudice your chances of getting a job.
He refused to comment, saying he did not wish to prejudice the outcome of the talks.
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THESAURUS
▪ harm to have a bad effect on someone or something:
Many women said parenthood harmed their careers.
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A little hard work never harmed anyone.
▪ damage to harm something badly. Damage is more serious than harm :
His reputation was damaged and his career was in ruins.
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The affair has damaged people’s confidence in the government.
▪ be bad for somebody/something to be likely to harm someone or something:
Too much fatty food is bad for you.
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All this rain is bad for business.
▪ be detrimental to something formal to be bad for something:
The new housing development will be detrimental to the character of this small town.
▪ impair formal to harm something, especially someone’s ability to do something or the correct working of a system:
Any amount of alcohol that you drink will impair your ability to drive.
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His vision was impaired.
▪ prejudice /ˈpredʒədəs, ˈpredʒʊdəs/ to have a bad effect on the future success of something:
Don’t do anything to prejudice our chances of winning.