microaggression
2
8.3
- noun
- /ˌmaɪkroʊəˈɡrɛʃən/
- Offensive
- You must know that research shows that people of color face additional hurdles: a sense of not belonging, exposure to microaggressions, and lower expectations from some professors.
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Watch on YouTubeThese are the microaggressions of the Donald Trump presidency.
- These are the microaggressions of the Donald Trump presidency.
- It is not just a matter of microaggressions.
- And the microaggressions are, I mean, they're astounding.
- That is what the important thing and that what makes microaggression so harmful and and damaging.
- So now real aggression has been replaced by microaggression.
- So we have Keon who's suffering from persistent microaggressions, which is a case of the band AIDS OK.
- Today they would call them microaggressions, but then it was just same shit, different day.
- When I came to MIT, Very grateful to him for what I had learned about microaggressions.
Examples
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I know what microaggressions are.
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Black campus protesters have claimed that it is a microaggression when a Black student is expected to testify to the Black experience in a class discussion.
Academic text (2016) -
How long will it take until the next microaggression comes up?
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That was when you first started hearing about trigger warnings, things like microaggression training.
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Do you experience a lot of microaggressions out here?
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A frequently used example of microaggression is the assumption that a Black student was admitted under affirmative action.
Academic text (2016) -
It wouldn't be a problem at all without the accumulation of so many microaggressions, without our systematic exclusion from our shared popular culture.
Blog text (29) -
From a stress-coping perspective, the Chinese and Korean immigrant elders' poor health status may also be due to excessive acculturation stress associated with other factors, such as prejudice, microaggression, overt racism, and discrimination.
Academic text (2007) -
Many people ignore the impact of a microaggression, but it can deeply affect those who experience them.
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She pointed out the microaggression in his comment that suggested she was only successful because of her background.
Synonyms
3
8.1
Talking about someone in a way that shows dislike and makes them seem unimportant
1
8.6
A comment or action that makes someone feel unimportant
1
9.9
Words or actions meant to hurt someone
1
7.8
Saying a word or phrase to insult other people
How Overt
- Offensive
31
5.1
- Offensive
2
8.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
microaggression = aggression (semi-transparent) = micro + aggress + ion
The term is built from 'micro' + 'aggression', but its specialized social-linguistic meaning is only partly predictable from the literal components.
Etymology
Microaggression is made of micro- meaning 'small', as in microscope, and aggression meaning 'attack' or 'unfriendly action'. So a microaggression is a small, often unintentional comment or action that feels like a tiny 'attack' and can show prejudice.