marginalize
Relegate to edges
To marginalize is to push someone or something to the edges of importance or relevance.
Marginalized groups—ethnic minorities, the poor, the disabled—lack the power and visibility of mainstream society.
The word often appears in social and political contexts: Policies that marginalize immigrants, communities marginalized by economic change.
To be marginalized is to be treated as peripheral, unimportant, or expendable.
Exclude from a group
- alienateCause emotional distance
- discriminateTreat unequally based on category
- disenfranchiseRevoke civic participation rights
- stigmatizeMark with dishonor
isolate · segregate · othering · outcast · scapegoat · blacklist · shun · exile
To make something seem unimportant
- devalueReduce perceived worth
- undermineWeaken by stealth
- trivializeMake light of
- minimizeReduce to smallest extent
downplay · depreciate · delegitimize · discredit · demean · disparage · dismiss · invalidate
Miss or commanding view
- disregardWillful lack of attention
- ignoreRefuse to notice
- undervaluedRated below true worth
- forgottenNo longer recalled
unrecognized · unheard · invisible · unacknowledged · sidelined · passed over · brushed aside · left behind
Outermost edge or margin
- outskirtsOuter parts of town
- peripheryBoundary or outer region
- borderlineEdge of acceptability
- outlyingDistant from center
secondary · tangential · pushed aside · sidelined · back burner · afterthought · footnote · background
ostracize
Exclude from a group
- alienateCause emotional distance
- discriminateTreat unequally based on category
- disenfranchiseRevoke civic participation rights
stigmatize · isolate · segregate · othering · outcast · scapegoat · blacklist · shun · exile · banish
belittle
To make something seem unimportant
- devalueReduce perceived worth
- undermineWeaken by stealth
- trivializeMake light of
minimize · downplay · depreciate · delegitimize · discredit · demean · disparage · dismiss · invalidate · underestimate
overlook
Miss or commanding view
- disregardWillful lack of attention
- ignoreRefuse to notice
- undervaluedRated below true worth
forgotten · unrecognized · unheard · invisible · unacknowledged · sidelined · passed over · brushed aside · left behind · underserved
fringe
Outermost edge or margin
- outskirtsOuter parts of town
- peripheryBoundary or outer region
- borderlineEdge of acceptability
outlying · secondary · tangential · pushed aside · sidelined · back burner · afterthought · footnote · background · offstage
- oppressoppress, persecute, tyrannize, subjugate, dominate
- Reduceshrink, diminish, decrease, lessen, reduce
- dismissingbrush aside, brush off, wave off, shrug off, blow off
- push asidesupplant, displace, oust, edge out, push out
- degradebelittle, demean, humiliate, degrade, debase
- exploitationexploit, predatory, sex trafficking, take advantage, human trafficking
marginalizecenter
Middle of anything
include · embrace · accept · integrate · mainstream
marginalizeempower
Grant authority or confidence
amplify · elevate · uplift · platform · prioritize
marginalizeprioritize
Rank by importance
centralize · foreground · emphasize · highlight · spotlight
- marginalized groupPopulation facing systemic exclusion
- marginalized communityGroup facing systemic exclusion
- marginalized communitiesGroups lacking social power
- marginalized voicesSpeakers from excluded communities
- marginalized populationsGroups excluded from mainstream society
marginality, marginalia, marginalized, marginalization, marginalizing, marginalised, marginalise, marginalizes, marginalisation