marginal
Just above threshold
Marginal means at the edge or border, often implying barely sufficient or of minor importance.
A marginal victory is narrow; marginal improvements are slight.
In economics, marginal refers to the effect of one additional unit: marginal cost, marginal utility.
Marginal land is barely productive enough to be worth cultivating.
A marginal candidate has little chance of winning.
The word suggests something that just barely qualifies or matters.
Edge of acceptability
- thresholdPoint of beginning
- barelyOnly just, almost not
- questionableOf uncertain validity
- doubtfulUncertain of truth
uncertain · ambiguous · equivocal · tentative · dubious · iffy · undecided · unresolved
Boundary or sharpness
- boundaryLine marking a limit
- borderOuter edge or limit
- peripheryBoundary or outer region
- outskirtsOuter parts of town
fringe · rim · perimeter · outlying · borderland · hinterland · frontier · exterior
Too small to consider
- minimalSmallest amount needed
- trivialLacking significance or weight
- minorScale with lowered third
- slightMinor or thin
nominal · token · inconsequential · trifling · incremental · fractional · small · meager
One excluded from group
- alternativeAnother available choice
- countercultureRejection of mainstream values
- subcultureGroup with alternative norms
- undergroundBelow ground or countercultural
unconventional · nonconformist · dissident · radical · avant-garde · bohemian · eccentric · peripheral
borderline
Edge of acceptability
- thresholdPoint of beginning
- barelyOnly just, almost not
- questionableOf uncertain validity
doubtful · uncertain · ambiguous · equivocal · tentative · dubious · iffy · undecided · unresolved · unsettled
edge
Boundary or sharpness
outskirts · fringe · rim · perimeter · outlying · borderland · hinterland · frontier · exterior · outer
negligible
Too small to consider
slight · nominal · token · inconsequential · trifling · incremental · fractional · small · meager · scant
outsider
One excluded from group
- alternativeAnother available choice
- countercultureRejection of mainstream values
- subcultureGroup with alternative norms
underground · unconventional · nonconformist · dissident · radical · avant-garde · bohemian · eccentric · peripheral · outlier
cost
Required payment amount
return · rate · analysis · pricing · benefit · productivity · efficiency · yield · gain · incremental
note
Short written record
- glossShine or annotation
- annotationAdded explanatory comment
- commentaryExplanatory remarks on events
footnote · sidebar · scribble · jotting · notation · remark · addendum
- placentationbasal, parietal, apical, central, laminar
- Danger Levelsdanger, high risk, high-risk, low risk, critical
- Insignificant thingstrivial, minor, small, tiny, negligible
- size wordsbig, small, short, large, huge
- levelslevel, tier, layer, floor, story
- outsidersoutcast, outsider, outcasts, pariah, misfit
marginalcentral
In the middle, primary
core · major · significant · substantial · mainstream
marginalsubstantial
Of notable size or importance
significant · considerable · major · maximal · maximum
- margins of errorAllowable deviation in measurements
- marginalized groupPopulation facing systemic exclusion
- by a wide marginWith overwhelming difference
- profit marginRevenue exceeding costs ratio
- margin of victoryGap separating winner, loser
- margin for error
margin, margins, marginalize, marginally, marginality, marginalia, marginalized, marginalization, marginalizing