Meaning & use
pariah
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Meanings
nouncountabledisapproving
Someone whom everyone avoids and rejects because they are disliked or disgraced.
Grammar: Takes a/an: became a pariah.
Patterns
- treat someone as a pariah
- become a pariah
After the scandal, he became a pariah in the town.
The country was treated as an international pariah.
She felt like a pariah at school.
nouncountableoffensivedialect
A person who belonged to a very low social group in traditional South Indian society.
Grammar: Historical and offensive in this sense.
Patterns
- a pariah in history
The term pariah was used for a caste in colonial records.
Historians note the word is now considered offensive when applied to people.
The word entered English through colonial accounts.
Word forms
| plural | pariahs |
|---|
Common combinations
- international pariah
- The regime became an international pariah.
- social pariah
- He became a social pariah after the lie.
- treated as a pariah
- She was treated as a pariah by her colleagues.
- pariah state
- The nation was labeled a pariah state.
- become a pariah
- He risked becoming a pariah in his field.
Synonyms and how they differ
- outcast
- Outcast is more general and can feel sympathetic, whereas pariah stresses being rejected by many.
- outsider
- Outsider means not belonging, but a pariah is actively shunned.
- leper
- Leper is used figuratively for someone shunned, but can be offensive.
- exile
- Exile means forced away from a place, not just avoided.
Opposites
Word family
- pariah state noun
- a nation rejected by others
- pariah dog noun
- a type of stray dog found in South Asia
- pariahdom noun
- rare word for the state of being a pariah
Commonly confused: pariah or parasite?
pariah vs parasite
A parasite lives off another organism, which is different from being a shunned person.
Practice
After leaking the secret, he became a ___ among his colleagues.
Choose one answer.
Being shunned makes someone a pariah. Hero and leader suggest respect.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pariah”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.