Link Centre Dictionary

ostracism

ost·ra·cism

UK/ˈɒstɹəsɪz(ə)m/ US/ˈɒs trəˌsɪz əm/ uncommon

noun

1.

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”
Synonyms
2.

the act of excluding someone from society by general consent

Origin

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ὀστρακισμός (ostrakismós, “banishment by means of voting with pot shards”), from ὀστρακίζω (ostrakízō, “ostracize”) + -ισμός (-ismós, “-ism”), from ὄστρακον (óstrakon, “clay pot”).

Phrases

  • send to Coventry

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.