Literary notes about Prejudicial (AI summary)
Writers employ the term "prejudicial" to denote actions, influences, or conditions that cause harm or produce a negative impact, whether on an individual’s character or on larger societal institutions. In literature, it often marks the boundary between acceptable behavior and that which undermines personal well-being or public interest. For example, a character’s behavior might have a detrimental effect on another’s prospects, as when an incident is described as being prejudicial to one’s destiny [1], while in political discourse, policies and prohibitions are critiqued for being prejudicial to trade and national interests [2], [3]. At times, the word is used to highlight the moral shortcomings of a system, suggesting that certain excesses or delays may be prejudicial to justice or social harmony [4], [5]. In this way, "prejudicial" serves as a literary device to underscore the idea that interference—whether deliberate or accidental—can impede progress, damage relationships, or even compromise the integrity of societies.
- Thus, for example, Trifon Borissovitch made a great impression, of course, very prejudicial to Mitya.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - That the prohibition of free trade was prejudicial to the interests of all nations, and to that of the American people in particular.
— from Democracy in America — Volume 1 by Alexis de Tocqueville - The more progress was made, the more was it shown that slavery, which is so cruel to the slave, is prejudicial to the master.
— from Democracy in America — Volume 1 by Alexis de Tocqueville - “But I should not like to involve you in a dispute which might be prejudicial to your interests.”
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova - So this is a prejudicial question, which must be treated before all others.
— from The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life by Émile Durkheim
