Definition

1. Verb:
   • To mark someone or something with a stigma; to set a mark of disgrace or infamy upon. It involves characterizing or branding someone as shameful, often publicly or formally.
   • (In a historical or religious context) To mark with stigmata, which are bodily marks or sores resembling the wounds of the crucified Christ.

Usage

• The primary use of stigmatise is to describe the social act of treating someone or something as deeply disgraced or unacceptable.
• It is often used in contexts involving social judgment, prejudice, or public condemnation.
• Example Sentence Structure: + or .

Examples

• Verb:
  • The new policy unfairly stigmatises people who receive government assistance.
  • In some cultures, mental illness is still heavily stigmatised.
  • She felt stigmatised by her colleagues after the mistake was made public.

Advanced Usage

• "to be stigmatised by": to be marked with disgrace by a particular group or force.
  • The community was stigmatised by the scandal for years.
• "to stigmatise someone for": to brand someone as disgraceful because of a specific action or trait.
  • He was stigmatised for his political beliefs.

Variants and Related Words

• Stigmatize (verb): The preferred spelling in American English. It has the same meaning as 'stigmatise'.
• Stigma (noun): The mark of disgrace or shame itself.
  • There is a social stigma attached to unemployment.
• Stigmatisation/Stigmatization (noun): The action or process of stigmatising.
  • The stigmatisation of addiction prevents many from seeking help.

Synonyms

• Brand: to mark with a label of disgrace.
• Denounce: to condemn openly as wrong or evil.
• Discredit: to harm the reputation of.
• Vilify: to speak or write about in an abusively disparaging manner.

Related Phrases

• To label as: to assign a category, often a negative one.
  • He was labelled as a troublemaker.
• To cast aspersions on: to make damaging or derogatory remarks about.
  • The article cast aspersions on her character.

Idioms

• To bear a stigma: to carry a mark of disgrace.
  • The family bore the stigma of their ancestor's crime for generations.
• To be marked with a scarlet letter: (idiomatic, from literature) to be publicly shamed or stigmatised. This idiom originates from Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel .
  • After the affair, she felt as though she was marked with a scarlet letter.

Verb

1. mark with a stigma or stigmata
   • They wanted to stigmatize the adulteress
2. to accuse or condemn or openly or formally or brand as disgraceful
   • He denounced the government action
   • She was stigmatized by society because she had a child out of wedlock