marginal
35
4.9
- adjective
- /ˈmɑrdʒɪnəl/
:
marginal
- But this is kind of a slightly marginal process, I think.
- marginal improvement
- a marginal effect
- marginal significance
Not average, not marginal, not good enough.
- Not average, not marginal, not good enough.
- You're playing with these like marginal slivers of space.
- And I think that that's that that at best is a marginal value, right?
- If you use treated lumber, you're spending marginally more money for a marginal amount of time.
- She had a line in her book where they go, well, you know, there's only a marginal difference between Biden and Trump.
- So I know what conferences and seminars are going on there 'cause I still have a marginal role to play in all of that.
- It might end up, you know, not meeting expectations and kind of being, you know, marginal gains, but not transformative gains.
- It's really the progress of incremental gains, marginal gains that really brings US progress.
- Well, this is not strictly computer science, but it's a good story and it does have some marginal relevance to all of this.
- The extent of Harry's wound is revealed to us in this very oblique, very marginal mention.
- You know, it all depends on marginal swings in marginal constituencies.
- So I, I, I tend to see the world very much as a marginal conversation.
- So really the harshness kind of circles around the drain of marginal empathy, maybe a little bit of entitlement.
Examples
-
Indicator after indicator showed either no impact or marginal impact on household economies.
Academic text (2008) -
And as Justin said, it is a marginal issue with respect to voting.
-
So working at a website suddenly became, went from being very marginal to being very central.
-
This table shows you the marginal tax rates faced by these groups.
-
The internal rate of return is often referred to as "marginal efficiency of capital."
Academic text (1991) -
Therefore, many emerging farmers, whose resources are marginal, struggle to make economically marginal farms competitive.
Academic text (2008) -
She had a line in her book where they go, well, you know, there's only a marginal difference between Biden and Trump.
-
You know, it all depends on marginal swings in marginal constituencies.
-
If you use treated lumber, you're spending marginally more money for a marginal amount of time.
-
The results were only marginal, failing to meet the expected standards.
Synonyms
594
1.2
Small in amount or degree
122
3.5
Only just enough, with no extra things
62
5.3
So close to failing that it is only just acceptable
4
5.6
Less good than the best choice
Antonyms
Compounds
- Specialized
3
7.0
Extra enjoyment you get from one more item, like a slice of pizza
- Specialized
Seeds attach in a single row along one side of a pod, like in peas
How Acceptable
∞
1.0
∞
1.0
234
2.7
35
4.9
62
5.3
838
1.0
256
3.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Marginal comes from margin, meaning 'edge' or 'limit', and the idea is of something sitting just at that edge. So if quality or performance is marginal, it is only just acceptable or almost below the limit.