marginal
marginal Lexical Profile
marginal Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Minor, slight, or of very limited importance, extent, or effect.
"The new manufacturing process resulted in only a marginal improvement in overall fuel efficiency."
Relating to, situated at, or written in the edge or margin of something, such as a page or territory.
"The scholar discovered several insightful marginal notes penciled into the first edition of the manuscript."
Close to the lower limit of acceptability, qualification, or profitability; barely adequate.
"Farmers struggled to cultivate crops on the marginal land along the arid plateau."
Relating to or resulting from an incremental change of one unit in the quantity of a good, service, or economic variable (in economics and finance).
"The factory manager calculated the marginal cost of producing one additional thousand units."
Not part of a mainstream social group, activity, or institution; excluded from full participation or influence.
"Once considered a marginal artistic movement, the style eventually shaped mainstream cinema."
• noun
British A parliamentary constituency in which the winning candidate holds only a small majority of votes, making the seat vulnerable to a small swing in subsequent elections.
"Both major parties focused their campaign resources heavily on the key marginals across the Midlands."
A shallow-water aquatic plant adapted to grow along the edges or muddy banks of a pond, stream, or wetland, with its roots submerged and foliage rising above the water surface.
"The landscaper planted rushes, irises, and other hardy marginals around the shallow perimeter of the garden pond."
• Rhymes for marginal
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 16th century from Medieval Latin marginalis ('of or pertaining to a border'), derived from Latin margo ('edge, border, or brink'). The specialized economic sense relating to incremental cost or utility emerged in the late 19th century.