pariah
Advancedzipf 2.76Pronunciation
/pəˈraɪə/(puh-RY-uh)
Part of speech
nounformal
Chinese
被社会排斥的人;贱民
Definition
An outcast; a person who is avoided or despised by others.
Word family
- (no common derivatives)
Collocations
- social pariah
- international pariah
- pariah state
- treated as a pariah
Examples
- 1.After the scandal, he became a pariah in the industry — no one would return his calls. (outcast)
- 2.North Korea has long been considered a pariah state by the international community. (rejected, shunned)
Synonyms
- outcast/ˈaʊtkɑːst/— rejected person
- exile/ˈɛɡzaɪl/— person banished
- untouchable/ʌnˈtʌtʃəbəl/— someone avoided
Etymology
from Tamil "paraiyar" = hereditary drummers — originally the name of a low caste in southern India — came to mean any social outcast