pariah

Advancedzipf 2.76

Pronunciation

/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. 1.After the scandal, he became a pariah in the industry — no one would return his calls. (outcast)
  2. 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