Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A social outcast: "Shortly Tom came upon the juvenile pariah of the village, Huckleberry Finn, son of the town drunkard” ( Mark Twain).
- n. An Untouchable.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A member of a low caste of Hindus in southern India, lower than the regular castes of the Brah-manical system, by whom they are shunned as unclean, yet superior to some other castes in the Tamil country, where they constitute a considerable part of the population. The Pariahs are commonly employed as laborers by the agricultural class, or as servants to Europeans.
- n. [lowercase] A member of any similarly degraded class; one generally despised; an outcast from society; a vagabond.
Wiktionary
- n. An outcast.
- n. A demographic group, species, or community that is generally despised.
- n. Someone in exile.
- n. A member of one of the oppressed social castes in India.
- n. A person who is rejected (from society or home).
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. One of an aboriginal people of Southern India, regarded by the four castes of the Hindus as of very low grade. They are usually the serfs of the Sudra agriculturalists. See Caste.
- n. An outcast; one despised by society.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a person who is rejected (from society or home)
Etymologies
- Tamil paṛaiyar, pl. of paṛaiyan, pariah caste, from paṛai, festival drum. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The players of the paRai were of a low social order and the term pariah eventually became the descriptor for the lowest caste - the untouchables - in parts of Sri Lanka.”
“Members of the Paraiyar group—from which the word "pariah" is derived—performed menial labor and because they were considered unclean, lived outside of villages.”
The Wall Street Journal: For India's Lowest Castes, Path Forward Is 'Backward'
“And as CNBC's Darren Rovell wrote on Monday, it means that Vick, not long ago considered a pariah, is now popular to the point that his No. 7 Eagles jersey is in demand.”
“John Kerry says that one reason America has become an "international pariah" is President Bush's decision to "walk away from global warming.”
“The Democratic Alliance earlier questioned Sorth Korean delegation led by Yang, saying it pointed to a pattern of friendships with so-called pariah states.”
“The country's formal diplomatic links were largely confined to a number of countries with whom apartheid South Africa had historical links, or with the so-called pariah countries.”
“Below the laboring caste there is a substratum which is termed pariah or outcast, and these degraded specimens of humanity are not better than animated machines performing the functions of public scavengers.”
“India, called pariah dogs; since the latter, although not owned by individuals, dwell in the villages, and of course associate with man.”
Quadrupeds, What They Are and Where Found A Book of Zoology for Boys
“Dog, anjing: those brought from Europe lose in a few years their distinctive qualities, and degenerate at length into the cur with erect ears, kuyu, vulgarly called the pariah dog.”
“It has already disturbed Pakistan, which is nearly being labelled a pariah, whereas India is being feted as the great hope for 21st century Britain.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘pariah’.
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GRE 2014
abate, abdicate, abase, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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501
Classic
mete, ire, bane, bilk, boor, elan, ado, toil, onus, aberration, abstruse, anomaly and 401 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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From reading
Collected from reading
venerate, reprobate, reticent, adoration, ethereal, ephemeral, equivocal, contumacious, heinous, solicitous, agnostic, aberration and 335 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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501
Classic
bane, bilk, boor, elan, ado, toil, onus, aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august and 401 more...
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Unsavory characters
absconder, aretaloger, arriviste, avaunter, bamboozler, bandit, banger, barbarian, barmecide, barrator, beldam, blatherskite and 190 more...
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DAY5_01/08/2013
picayune, lagniappe, melee, demur, parvenu, sangfroid, zeitgeist, bwana, nabob, arriviste, amuck, pariah and 6 more...
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Aviator's supplement
anybody can add to this list which would help our goal to disperse more words...
raillery, scruples, conspicuous, concupiscent, ramshackled, exultant, innate, condescend, pariah, countenance, ply, vitiate and 6 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1834 more...
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magoosh1
aberration, aboveboard, abysmal, ace, affable, aghast, alacrity, ambiguous, ambivalent, ameliorate, amenable, amiable and 215 more...
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Favorite Words
pablum, maundy, histrionic, adamant, ascribe, verbiage, insouciant, erudite, gregarious, superfluous, banal, obdurate and 280 more...
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catinthehat345's List
compere, reticle, colophon, miasma, eldritch, raconteur, plectrum, poltroon, vestibular, pastiche, cravat, acumen and 179 more...
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Out of Book Words
commiserate, equanimity, dulcet, cursory, diffident, profligate, egregious, precocious, dissemble, aggregate, efficacy, ingenuous and 100 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for pariah.
reesetee From A.W.A.D.: "From Tamil paraiyar, plural of paraiyan (drummer), from parai (drum, to tell). Because the drum players were considered among the lowest in the former caste system of India, the word took on the general meaning of an outcast. Earliest documented use: 1613." Apr 19, 2011
Prolagus Citation on predate. Nov 21, 2008