blackball

Definition

The act of voting against someone's admission to a group or organization, historically done by dropping a black ball into a ballot box. It's the original cancel culture, giving members the power to veto new applicants with total anonymity. Today it's evolved to mean excluding or boycotting someone, usually for reasons ranging from legitimate to pettily vindictive.

Example Usage

After his controversial comments, he was effectively blackballed from the industry's networking events.

Source: Historical organizational terminology

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