verb (used with object), os·tra·cized, os·tra·ciz·ing.
- to exclude, by general consent, from society, friendship, conversation, privileges, etc.: His friends ostracized him after his father’s arrest.
- to banish (a person) from his or her native country; expatriate.
- (in ancient Greece) to banish (a citizen) temporarily by popular vote.
verb (tr)
- to exclude or banish (a person) from a particular group, society, etc
- (in ancient Greece) to punish by temporary exile
v.chiefly British English spelling of ostracize (q.v.); for suffix, see -ize. Related: Ostracised. v.1640s, from Greek ostrakizein “to banish,” literally “to banish by voting with potshards” (see ostracism). Figurative sense of “to exclude from society” is attested from 1640s. Related: Ostracization; ostracized; ostracizing.