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

Noun

• castaway
• castoff
• leper
• offscouring
• pariah
• reject

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

Soccer was an outcast sport, but the scene was familiar: an old arena with sticky floors; hot dogs and greasy pizza slices at the concession stands; professional hockey and basketball banners hanging from the rafters; kids and families everywhere. —Adam Elder, New York Times, 24 Apr. 2024

Don’t monsters and outcasts deserve a happily ever after, too? —Chris Snellgrove, EW.com, 16 Apr. 2024

But the pact and the secret protocols that accompanied it turbocharged disruptive military innovation by international outcasts—Germany especially. —Hal Brands, Foreign Affairs, 29 Mar. 2024

There are swipes at the way society’s underdogs and outcasts are treated by those who rule, how religious and cultural differences get politicized and then weaponized in the name of power and profit, and how a caste system continues to warp the humanity of all involved. —David Fear, Rolling Stone, 12 Mar. 2024

Stephen King’s debut novel, which was first released 50 years ago on April 5, tells the chilling story of a telekinetic teenager, Carrie White, who’s an outcast at school and bullied by her peers. —Eric Andersson, Peoplemag, 5 Apr. 2024

Alejandro’s fate in the U.S. will largely depend on the sponsorship of Elizabeth (the British actress Tilda Swinton), an eccentric artist who has become an outcast. —Arturo Conde, NBC News, 28 Feb. 2024

When 12-year-old tech-head Hope falls in with a gang of likeminded outcasts, the misfit posse will have to foil a plot to replace the community’s children en masse, while grappling with deeper existential concerns: Just how ‘real’ are any of them? —Ben Croll, Variety, 8 Mar. 2024

Many of its members — designers, hair and makeup artists, stylists, photographers — grew up as outcasts of one kind or another, shunned in their hometowns for being too gay, too outré, too strange, too other. —Hanya Yanagihara, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2024

Adjective

The title character of Nimona is a redheaded shape-shifter (Chloë Grace Moretz) who befriends outcast knight Sir Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed) after the latter is framed for the murder of the queen (Lorraine Toussaint). —Christian Holub, EW.com, 30 June 2023

Her antagonist is Val Turner (Bathé), the principled, relentless and socially outcast FBI agent who will stop at nothing to foil her ambitious plan. —Jennifer Maas, Variety, 12 May 2022

Jack and Rose were outcast, lovelorn dreamers. —K. Austin Collins, Rolling Stone, 13 Dec. 2022

There could be other repercussions, such as getting booted from a committee or being outcast during the reelection cycle. —Laura Rodríguez Presa, Chicago Tribune, 1 Jan. 2023

The proof is in these stories, as Mantel explores different facets of a semi-outcast childhood in her striking and starkly beautiful prose. —Clea Simon, BostonGlobe.com, 23 June 2022

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

Kids Definition

outcast

noun

out·​cast -ˌkast 

: a person who is cast out by society : pariah

outcast adjective