marginal

/ˈmɑrdʒənl/

/ˈmɑdʒɪnəl/

Use the word marginal when something is minimal or barely enough. If you buy lemons and sugar, make lemonade and set up a stand on the street corner, but sell only a couple of glasses, your profits will be marginal.

Some claim that greenhouse gases have a marginal effect on the environment while others think that they are changing the world drastically. Your parents hope to see more than a marginal improvement in your grades! These are the figurative uses for marginal, which comes from the Latin word margo "edge." Literally, the word is used with things on a border. When you scribble words in the blank edges of your textbook pages, those notes are marginal.

Definitions of marginal

1. adjective

   at or constituting a border or edge
   “the marginal strip of beach”

   synonyms: fringy

   peripheral

   on or near an edge or constituting an outer boundary; the outer area
2. adjective

   just barely adequate or within a lower limit
   “a marginal victory”

   synonyms: bare

   narrow

   very limited in degree
3. adjective

   of questionable or minimal quality
   “marginal writing ability”

   synonyms: borderline

   minimal, minimum

   the least possible
4. adjective

   producing at a rate that barely covers production costs
   “marginal industries”

   synonyms:

   unprofitable

   producing little or no profit or gain