The new fertilizer produced only a marginal increase in crop yield, far less than the farmers had hoped.
新肥料只带来了微小的作物产量增加，远低于农民的期望。
Economist Dominic Reyes contends that most long-term investors are motivated primarily by portfolio diversification and retirement planning rather than marginal changes in after-tax return, meaning a modest rate increase is unlikely to significantly change investment behavior.
From a Cross-Text Connections question · Craft and Structure
Which choice best defines “marginal”?
C — Very small in amount or effect. “marginal” means very small in amount or effect.
Which word means “very small in amount or effect”?
A — marginal. “marginal” means very small in amount or effect.
marginal — very small in amount or effect. In Chinese: 微小的，边缘的.
marginal is pronounced /ˈmɑːrdʒɪnl/.
The new fertilizer produced only a marginal increase in crop yield, far less than the farmers had hoped. (新肥料只带来了微小的作物产量增加，远低于农民的期望。)
slight, minor, negligible — all close in meaning to marginal (very small in amount or effect).
significant, substantial — each the opposite of marginal (very small in amount or effect).
Yes. marginal is on the SAT Prep Easy list — mid-frequency academic words that do get tested. The Digital SAT does not test vocabulary in isolation; words like this one are tested through Words in Context questions, where you choose the word that completes a passage most logically and precisely.