How to Use ostracize in a Sentence

ostracize

verb
  • The other girls ostracized her because of the way she dressed.
  • She was ostracized from the scientific community for many years because of her radical political beliefs.
  • You could get laughed at, ridiculed, teased, ostracized, punched, or killed.
    — Ahmir "questlove" Thompson, Rolling Stone, 14 June 2025
  • He’s been ostracized by the police and he was set up.
    — Stephen Schaefer, Boston Herald, 8 Jan. 2026
  • The man who raised the issue said he was ostracized for speaking out.
    — Mike Hixenbaugh, NBC news, 12 May 2025
  • What were the responses of the adults in your life when you were ostracized?
    — Sahaj Kaur Kohli, Washington Post, 12 Oct. 2023
  • The thing about sellouts is that they are ostracized and shunned by their people.
    — Terrell Jermaine Starr, The Root, 1 Nov. 2017
  • If someone in the group does stray from the group, they are quickly ostracized.
    — Sherri Gordon, Parents, 3 July 2024
  • Many of them feel ostracized on their campus for their beliefs.
    — Chris Quintana, USA TODAY, 17 Jan. 2020
  • Daniels mentioned that she and her daughter were ostracized from things in their life.
    — Bart Jansen, USA TODAY, 7 May 2024
  • Marinari agrees that there is a sense of ostracizing moms who don’t drink from those who do.
    — Claire Gillespie, SELF, 20 Nov. 2018
  • Jaimee took cues from her mom and tried to ostracize White, making fun of him on the set.
    — Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2024
  • The circumstances of her birth are not a reason for her to be ostracized.
    — Jeanne Phillips, The Mercury News, 18 May 2024
  • If someone in your family did all those things, he would be ostracized.
    — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 27 May 2024
  • The men had already been ostracized, and the pressure on them was enormous.
    — Michael E. Ruane, Washington Post, 22 Sep. 2017
  • Children borne of rape grow up ostracized, with less access to civil rights.
    — Alice Su, The Seattle Times, 1 Aug. 2017
  • Backers say he shouldn't be ostracized for something that happened so long ago.
    — Michael Tarm, chicagotribune.com, 22 June 2018
  • Feeling isolated and ostracized by a group of people is a tale as old as time.
    — Roya Backlund, StyleCaster, 24 Jan. 2025
  • Once the affair became public, they were ostracized in their town.
    — David Oliver, USA TODAY, 4 Apr. 2024
  • You are allowed to have relationships and be in the world and not be ostracized.
    — Anthony Robledo, USA Today, 8 May 2026
  • Sigur’s edge manifests in a way that might ostracize him.
    — Joshua Kloke, New York Times, 1 June 2026
  • Her mother was ostracized for getting pregnant; her father was killed the day she was born.
    — Ron Charles, Washington Post, 28 Feb. 2023
  • Rudolph is ostracized by other reindeer because he was born with a shiny, glowing red nose.
    — John Tufts, IndyStar, 5 Dec. 2025
  • Describe your past physical self and how you were ostracized because of it.
    — Harriette Cole, The Mercury News, 5 Oct. 2024
  • Cast members switch teams, ostracize each other, and stab one another in the back again and again.
    — Frederick Dreier, Outside Online, 9 Mar. 2023
  • Men like Liteky are people who should force us to pause and think; they should not be ostracized and criticized.
    — Sam Roberts, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2017
  • Their children were ostracized and mocked for being the children of garbagemen.
    — Kirsten West Savali, The Root, 18 Apr. 2018
  • Malcolm still feels ostracized by his family, so much so that he's nearly cut off contact from them.
    — Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 9 Apr. 2026
  • Adding the label of witch, zhu, would surely ostracize their family from the rest of the village.
    — Veronica Chambers, New York Times, 28 June 2019
  • Many of the patients had been ostracized from their families and lost their jobs—everything in their life was gone.
    — Roberta Brown, Vogue, 2 May 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ostracize.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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