Related Searches
Nearby Words
Synonyms

Pariah

 [puh-rahy-uh]   Example Sentences Origin

pa·ri·ah

   [puh-rahy-uh]
noun
1.
an outcast.
2.
any person or animal that is generally despised or avoided.
3.
(initial capital letter) a member of a low caste in southern India and Burma.
Origin:
1605–15; < Tamil paṟaiyar, plural of paṟaiyan literally, drummer (from a hereditary duty of the caste), derivative of paṟai a festival drum

Related forms
pa·ri·ah·dom, noun
pa·ri·ah·ism, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To Pariah

:10

:09

:08

:07

:06

:05

:04

:03

:02

:01

Pariah is always a great word to know.
So is callithumpian. Does it mean:
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...
Example Sentences
  • Even if one's marriage was a sham, divorce made a woman a social pariah in the Victorian era.
  • The rumor of illegitimacy, says Isbouts, would have made him a pariah in his small village.
  • In her teens she accidentally (or so she says) burns down a friend's house, thus becoming a pariah in her birth family.
EXPAND
Collins
World English Dictionary
pariah (pəˈraɪə, ˈpærɪə)
 
—n
1.  a social outcast
2.  (formerly) a member of a low caste in South India
 
[C17: from Tamil paraiyan drummer, from parai drum; so called because members of the caste were the drummers at festivals]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

pariah
1613, from Port. paria or directly from Tamil paraiyar, pl. of paraiyan "drummer" (at festivals, the hereditary duty of members of the largest of the lower castes of southern India), from parai "large festival drum." Especially numerous at Madras, where its members supplied most of the domestics in European
EXPAND
service. Applied by Hindus and Europeans to members of any low Hindu caste and even to outcastes. Extended meaning "social outcast" is first attested 1819.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary
pariah [(puh-reye-uh)]

An outcast; a member of a low caste or class.

Note: The word originally stems from the caste system of India, which put pariahs in a very low place in society. In the United States, it refers to those of low social class or social status.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

pariah

member of a low-caste group of Hindu India, formerly known as "untouchables" but renamed by the Indian social reformer Mahatma Gandhi as Harijans (children of the god Hari Visnu, or, simply, children of God). The word pariah-originally derived from Tamil paraiyar, "drummer"-once referred to the Paraiyan, a Tamil caste group of labourers and village servants of low status, but the meaning was extended to embrace many groups outside the so-called clean caste groups, with widely varying degrees of status. See also untouchable.

Learn more about pariah with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Cite This Source
Partners:WordBloglinesCitysearchThe Daily BeastAsk AnswersAsk KidsLife123SendoriThesaurus
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
About Privacy Policy Terms of Use API Careers Advertise with Us Contact Us Help
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT
How many words do you know? FIND OUT