plural pariahs
1
: one that is despised or rejected : outcast
… the mordant wit and unsettling insight that once made [Mark] Twain practically a pariah in Middle America.—
Roy Reed
Roy ReedA nation, it seemed, had become a global pariah overnight.—Adam Westbrook and Kirk Semple
Adam Westbrook and Kirk SempleNote: Although sense 1 is in common use and is not usually regarded as offensive by Western English speakers, it is highly inflammatory to many people of Indian descent due to its close association with the offensive caste-related meaning of sense 2.
2
dated, offensive
: a member of a low caste of southern India
Examples of pariah in a Sentence
For decades, African states longed for the day when South Africa would be liberated from its status as the apartheid pariah and become the economic engine that would pull Africa out of its mire of poverty and underdevelopment, much as Japan did for the Pacific Rim.
—Allister Sparks, Wilson Quarterly, Spring 2001
Once they began to migrate to the United States, especially after this country conferred citizenship on them in 1917, they discovered what it meant to be a pariah in the country that had adopted them.
—John Hope Franklin, "The Land of Room Enough," 1981,
in Race and History, 1989
Even as her star was rising in the outside world, she was becoming more and more a pariah in her own village, where her isolation and sense of rejection made her, for a time, a prisoner in her house, a victim of agoraphobia.
—Judy Oppenheimer, New York Times Book Review, 3 July 1988
He's a talented player but his angry outbursts have made him a pariah in the sport of baseball.
I felt like a pariah when I wore the wrong outfit to the dinner party.
Allister Sparks, Wilson Quarterly, Spring 2001
Once they began to migrate to the United States, especially after this country conferred citizenship on them in 1917, they discovered what it meant to be a pariah in the country that had adopted them.
—John Hope Franklin, "The Land of Room Enough," 1981,
in Race and History, 1989
Even as her star was rising in the outside world, she was becoming more and more a pariah in her own village, where her isolation and sense of rejection made her, for a time, a prisoner in her house, a victim of agoraphobia.
—Judy Oppenheimer, New York Times Book Review, 3 July 1988
He's a talented player but his angry outbursts have made him a pariah in the sport of baseball.
I felt like a pariah when I wore the wrong outfit to the dinner party.
Recent Examples on the Web
Here is my coven of women authors and their pariah creation—sometimes literal monsters, sometimes the monster of the desirous self.
—Diana Arterian, Literary Hub, 14 Nov. 2025
Over two terms, de Blasio alienated many New Yorkers and became a pariah among Democratic politicians.
—Nicole West Bassoff, The Conversation, 14 Nov. 2025
Few if any of the originators attend now that the Santas are less social pariahs and law breakers and more fraternity brothers and junior bankers.
—Chuck Palahniuk, Vulture, 13 Nov. 2025
Rami Malek has incredible range and a more nuanced film charting his descent into a pariah and Cassandra figure deserved so much more.
—NPR, 11 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pariah
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Diana Arterian, Literary Hub, 14 Nov. 2025
Over two terms, de Blasio alienated many New Yorkers and became a pariah among Democratic politicians.
—Nicole West Bassoff, The Conversation, 14 Nov. 2025
Few if any of the originators attend now that the Santas are less social pariahs and law breakers and more fraternity brothers and junior bankers.
—Chuck Palahniuk, Vulture, 13 Nov. 2025
Rami Malek has incredible range and a more nuanced film charting his descent into a pariah and Cassandra figure deserved so much more.
—NPR, 11 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pariah
Cite this Entry
“Pariah.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pariah. Accessed 19 Nov. 2025.
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