Discriminatory means treating people unfairly based on characteristics like their race, gender, religion, age, or where they're from, rather than judging them as individuals. A discriminatory rule or action denies someone opportunities or treats them worse simply because of who they are, not because of what they've done or what they're capable of.

Imagine a coach who refuses to let girls try out for the soccer team, assuming they can't play as well as boys, without ever seeing them kick a ball. That's discriminatory because the coach is making decisions based on prejudice instead of actual ability. Or picture a teacher who always calls on students from certain families while ignoring others who raise their hands just as eagerly. That unfair pattern of behavior is discriminatory.

You might discriminate between a ripe banana and an unripe one by observing their color. But when applied to how we treat people, discrimination becomes harmful and unjust. Laws exist to prevent discriminatory practices in schools, workplaces, and public spaces because everyone deserves to be judged by their character, efforts, and abilities rather than by categories they belong to.

When you hear someone call a policy or action discriminatory, they're pointing out that it's unfair in a specific way: it treats people unequally based on who they are rather than on what they do.