ostracism


Also found in: Thesaurus, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

os·tra·cism

 (ŏs′trə-sĭz′əm)
n.
1.
a. The act of banishing or excluding.
b. Banishment or exclusion from a group; disgrace.
2. In Athens and other cities of ancient Greece, the temporary banishment by popular vote of a citizen considered dangerous to the state.

[French ostracisme, from Greek ostrakismos, from ostrakizein, to ostracize; see ostracize.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

os•tra•cism

(ˈɒs trəˌsɪz əm)

n.
1. exclusion, by general consent, from social acceptance, privileges, friendship, etc.
2. (in ancient Greece) temporary banishment of a citizen, decided upon by popular vote.
[1570–80; < New Latin ostracismus < Greek ostrakismós banishment]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

ostracism

- In ancient Greece, when it was proposed that a person be sent into exile, a vote was taken and the method of registering the vote involved putting the name on a piece of broken pottery called ostrakon; casting the vote was ostrakizein, giving us English ostracism.
See also related terms for vote.
Farlex Trivia Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.

ostracism

1. a casting out from social or political society.
2. the ancient Athenian process of temporary banishment by popular vote, using potsherds or tiles for ballots.
See also: Banishment
-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.ostracism - the state of being banished or ostracized (excluded from society by general consent)ostracism - the state of being banished or ostracized (excluded from society by general consent); "the association should get rid of its elderly members--not by euthanasia, of course, but by Coventry"
exclusion - the state of being excluded
2.ostracism - the act of excluding someone from society by general consent
expulsion, riddance, ejection, exclusion - the act of forcing out someone or something; "the ejection of troublemakers by the police"; "the child's expulsion from school"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

ostracism

noun exclusion, boycott, isolation, exile, rejection, expulsion, avoidance, cold-shouldering, renunciation, banishment In those days unmarried mothers suffered social ostracism.
welcome, approval, admission, reception, acceptance, inclusion
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

ostracism

noun
Enforced removal from one's native country by official decree:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
نَفْي، إبْعاد، نَبْذ، طَرْد
udelukkelse
cserépszavazáskiközösítés
útskúfun
ostrakizmus

ostracism

[ˈɒstrəsɪzəm] Nostracismo m
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

ostracism

[ˈɒstrəsɪzəm] nostracisme m
to risk social ostracism → risquer l'ostracisme social
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

ostracism

nÄchtung f
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

ostracism

[ˈɒstrəsɪzm] n (frm) → ostracismo
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

ostracize,

ostracise

(ˈostrəsaiz) verb
to refuse to accept (someone) in society or a group. His former friends ostracized him because of his rudeness.
ˈostracism noun
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
And it is on this account that democratic states have established the ostracism; for an equality seems the principal object of their government.
There is therefore no reason that a monarch should not act in agreement with free states, to support his own power, if they do the same thing for the benefit of their respective communities; upon which account when there is any acknowledged difference in the power of the citizens, the reason upon which the ostracism is founded will be politically just; but it is better for the legislator so to establish his state at the beginning as not to want this remedy: but if in course of time such an inconvenience should arise, to endeavour to amend it by some such correction.
After having been sentenced to a prepetual ostracism from the esteem and confidence, and honors and emoluments of his country, he will still be liable to prosecution and punishment in the ordinary course of law.
For public envy, is as an ostracism, that eclipseth men, when they grow too great.
He lounged along, smoking a large cigar, keen-eyed and observant, laying up for himself a store of impressions, unconsciously irritated at every step by a sense of ostracism, of being in some indefinable manner without kinship and wholly apart from this world, in which it seemed natural now that he should find some place.
If nothing else, I was escaping from the organized ostracism that had been our increasing portion in the university town ever since the enmity of the nascent Oligarchy had been incurred.
You should read history--look at ostracism, persecution, martyrdom, and that kind of thing.
To understand the importance of the ostracism imposed by the act of Amelie Thirion, it is necessary to add that this scene took place toward the end of the month of July, 1815.
My whole former life--my life as a slave on the plantation, my work in the coal-mine, the times when I was without food and clothing, when I made my bed under a sidewalk, my struggles for an education, the trying days I had had at Tuskegee, days when I did not know where to turn for a dollar to continue the work there, the ostracism and sometimes oppression of my race,--all this passed before me and nearly overcame me.
He said to himself that she was too light and childish, too uncultivated and unreasoning, too provincial, to have reflected upon her ostracism, or even to have perceived it.
Minhoon Khan Laghari on the topics 'A Study into the Casual Relationship of Job Insecurity and Job Performance: An Intervening Influence of Emotional Intelligence and Moderating Effect of Interactional Justice' and 'Study of Workplace Ostracism Emotional Intelligence, Psychological Capital and Job Outcomes among Employees of Health Care Sector in Sindh: A Mediation Moderation Analysis' respectively.
The only adverse action to which he was allegedly subjected was the purported ostracism and some uncharacteristic aggressiveness on the part of Seznec immediately after he rebuffed her sexual comment.