Meanings
adjectivesubmarginal (comparative more submarginal, superlative most submarginal)
comparative more submarginal · superlative most submarginal
- Less than, or worse than, marginal. Not meeting even the minimum standard of quality.
Nutpicking, along with chicken cleaning and rag sorting, constituted the very bottom of the submarginal industries in St. Louis in the 1930s, and it was in these industries that African American women found sporadic employment.
1996, Staughton Lynd, "We are All Leaders": The Alternative Unionism of the Early 1930s - anatomyBelow a margin.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*upó
- Proto-Italic*supo
- Latinsub
- Latinsub-
- Englishsub-
- Englishmarginal
- Englishsubmarginal
Cite this entry
APA
submarginal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/submarginal
MLA
“submarginal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/submarginal. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “submarginal,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/submarginal.
Source: submarginal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.