outcast

1 of 2

noun

out·​cast ˈau̇t-ˌkast 

1

: one that is cast out or refused acceptance (as by society)

2

[Scots cast out to quarrel] Scotland : quarrel

outcast

2 of 2

adjective

1

: rejected or cast out by society

I felt no longer outcast, vagrant, and disowned by the wide world.

—Charlotte Brontë

He breaks through the stereotype and humanizes this outcast group of young people.

—Publishers Weekly

Tom was like the rest of the respectable boys, in that he envied Huckleberry his gaudy outcast condition, and was under strict orders not to play with him.

—Mark Twain

2

: thrown aside : discarded

a pile of outcast furniture

outcast beliefs

Synonyms of outcast

Noun

• reject
• pariah
• leper
• castaway
• castoff

Examples of outcast in a Sentence

Noun

She felt like a social outcast.

the professor is something of an outcast in the halls of academe now that his former support of a dictatorial regime has become public

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Crushed by the pressure of teachers and parents, three outcasts take refuge in a nearby forest. — Leo Barraclough, Variety, 23 July 2026

Considered the lowest of South Asia's hierarchical caste system, Dalits were once known as outcasts and many are still treated that way. — Omkar Khandekar, NPR, 20 July 2026

Adjective

There were four outlandish, outcast characters, whom Goldberg utterly embodied with something as slight as the crossing of her eyes or the dragging of her leg. — Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 25 July 2026

Its next president may well be the once-outcast Marine Le Pen. — Fareed Zakaria, Washington Post, 24 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for outcast

• aghast
• amassed
• biassed
• broadcast
• bypassed
• downcast
• forecast
• foremast
• harassed
• holdfast
• mainmast
• newscast

Kids Definition

outcast

noun

out·​cast -ˌkast 

: a person who is cast out by society : pariah

outcast adjective