submarginal en · ADJ
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *upó Proto-Italic *supo Latin sub Latin sub-der. English sub- English marginal English submarginal From sub- + marginal.
Meanings
-
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:
- Below a margin.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| more submarginal | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most submarginal | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |