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Meaning & use

biased

adjective·Academic

Last updated

UK/ˈbaɪ.əst/
US/ˈbaɪ.əst/

Meanings

  1. adjectivecomparabledisapproving

    Favoring one side over another in a way that is unfair or prevents fair judgment.

    Grammar: Before a noun or after a verb; often followed by toward, towards or against: biased against newcomers.

    Patterns

    • biased toward someone
    • biased against someone
    • biased in favor of someone

    The referee seemed biased toward the home team.

    A biased report ignored the other side of the story.

    He felt the test was biased against students who did not speak English at home.

  2. adjectivenot comparabletechnical

    Producing results that lean in one direction because of how data or a system is built.

    Grammar: Before a noun, often in statistics or computing: a biased sample.

    Patterns

    • a biased sample
    • a biased algorithm

    The survey used a biased sample of young adults only.

    A biased algorithm can repeat unfair patterns.

    The scale is biased and always reads two pounds high.

Word forms

comparativemore biased
superlativemost biased

Common combinations

biased against
The hiring process seemed biased against older workers.
biased toward
The coverage was biased toward one party.
biased opinion
A biased opinion cannot be trusted as evidence.
biased sample
The study had a biased sample.
unfairly biased
The judge was unfairly biased.
politically biased
Some viewers think the channel is politically biased.

Synonyms and how they differ

prejudiced
Prejudiced suggests a firm negative opinion formed in advance, often about groups of people.
partial
Partial is more formal and suggests favoring one side, with a milder tone.
one-sided
One-sided describes a presentation or argument that gives only one view, while biased describes the attitude behind it.
partisan
Partisan suggests firm loyalty to a party or cause.

Opposites

impartialneutralobjective

Word family

bias noun
an unfair preference or leaning
bias verb
to influence unfairly
unbiased adjective
fair and not favoring any side
biasedly adverb
in an unfair way, rare

Commonly confused: biased or biassed? biased or based?

biased vs biassed

Biassed is a rare alternative spelling; the standard spelling is biased.

biased vs based

Based means founded on something, while biased means leaning unfairly.

Practice

The reporter was criticized for being ___ toward one candidate.

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