prejudicial

English

Alternative forms

• prejudical, prejudicall (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English prejudiceele, prejudicial, prejudiciall, prejudiciel, prejudiciell, prejudycyall, from Old French prejudicial, prejudiciel and Medieval Latin prēiūdiciālis.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌprɛdʒʊˈdɪʃl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪʃəl

Adjective

prejudicial (comparative more prejudicial, superlative most prejudicial)

1. Exhibiting prejudice or bias.

   Antonym: nonprejudicial

   • 1978 December 9, J. T. Harris, quotee, “Polaroid Gay Workers”, in Gay Community News, volume 6, number 20, page 2:

     I must believe that the absence of specific language in our Policy Book with respect to sexual preferences cannot be construed as encouragement to prejudicial behavior or treatment.

2. Causing harm or injury; detrimental, harmful or injurious.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:harmful

   • 2011, Minette Walters, The Scold's Bridle:

     Were I to give you money, for whatever reason, it would be extremely prejudicial to your chances in court if you were unfortunate enough to appear there.

3. (law) Tending to convince based on past history rather than on evidence about the case at hand.

   Antonym: probative

   • 1999, Dana Stabenow, Hunter's Moon, →ISBN, page 109:

     The judge had granted the DA a one-week extension with the caustic admonition that the case would be summarily dismissed if at that time probative, as opposed to prejudicial, evidence was not produced.

Derived terms

• antiprejudicial
• non-prejudicial
• prejudicially
• prejudicialness
• unprejudicial

Translations

exhibiting prejudice or bias

• Finnish: syrjivä
• French: avec préjugé
• German: voreingenommen (de)
• Spanish: prejuicioso (es)

causing harm or injury; detrimental, harmful or injurious

• Bulgarian: вреден (bg) (vreden), в ущърб на (v uštǎrb na)
• Finnish: vahingollinen (fi)
• French: préjudiciable (fr), nuisible (fr)
• German: abträglich (de)
• Romanian: prejudiciabil (ro)
• Spanish: perjudicial (es)
• Swedish: skadlig (sv)

Galician

Adjective

prejudicial m or f (plural prejudiciais, reintegrationist norm)

1. reintegrationist spelling of prexudicial

Further reading

• “prejudicial”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2025

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /pɾe.ʒu.d͡ʒi.siˈaw/ [pɾe.ʒu.d͡ʒi.sɪˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /pɾe.ʒu.d͡ʒiˈsjaw/ [pɾe.ʒu.d͡ʒiˈsjaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /pɾɨ.ʒu.diˈsjal/ [pɾɨ.ʒu.ðiˈsjaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /pɾɨ.ʒu.diˈsjal/ [pɾɨ.ʒu.ðiˈsjaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /pɾɨ.ʒu.diˈsja.li/ [pɾɨ.ʒu.ðiˈsja.li]

• Hyphenation: pre‧ju‧di‧ci‧al

Adjective

prejudicial m or f (plural prejudiciais)

1. harmful

   Synonyms: danoso, nocivo, daninho

2. prejudicial

Derived terms

• prejudicialidade
• prejudicialmente

Further reading

• “prejudicial”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “prejudicial” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “prejudicial”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
• “prejudicial”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French préjudiciel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pre.ʒu.di.t͡ʃiˈal/

Adjective

prejudicial m or n (feminine singular prejudicială, masculine plural prejudiciali, feminine/neuter plural prejudiciale)

1. prejudicial

Declension

Declension of prejudicial

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	prejudicial		prejudicială		prejudiciali	prejudiciale
	definite	prejudicialul		prejudiciala		prejudicialii	prejudicialele
genitive- dative	indefinite	prejudicial		prejudiciale		prejudiciali	prejudiciale
	definite	prejudicialului		prejudicialei		prejudicialilor	prejudicialelor

Further reading

• “prejudicial”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025

Spanish

Etymology

From pre- +‎ judicial.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɾexudiˈθjal/ [pɾe.xu.ð̞iˈθjal] (Spain)
• IPA^(key): /pɾexudiˈsjal/ [pɾe.xu.ð̞iˈsjal] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: pre‧ju‧di‧cial

Adjective

prejudicial m or f (masculine and feminine plural prejudiciales)

1. prior to the administration of justice

See also

• perjudicial
• prejuiciado

Further reading

• “prejudicial”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024