as in outcast
one who is cast out or rejected by society I felt like a pariah when I wore the wrong outfit to the dinner party

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of pariah Russia has become a pariah to the G7 because of [its] invasion. Yvonne Lau, Fortune, 15 Sep. 2022 In the meantime, some see Biden as having compromised on some of his promises to put human rights at the center of his agenda, including a pledge to make Saudi Arabia a pariah because of the brutal murder of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi and other attempts to silence dissidents. Noah Bierman, Los Angeles Times, 1 Aug. 2022 Lee was viewed as a pariah by many afterward, and subjected to death threats, but her qualms about granting a president too much power are now echoed by politicians in both parties. Staff Writer follow, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2023 The Democrats are helping a far-right election denier who has become a pariah within her party in her race against a less extreme, but still election-denying, conservative. BostonGlobe.com, 14 Feb. 2023 See All Example Sentences for pariah
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pariah
Noun
  • Take a social outcast protagonist, surround her with an ensemble cast, add in an Ed Sheeran lookalike and unusual camera and edit work, throw it all into a genre blender, and top it off with a homage to the tradition of spaghetti in film.
    Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Feb. 2025
  • Concerned that six-year-old Frank would feel like an outcast in overwhelmingly white Luxembourg, Perle finessed the paperwork on behalf of Army lieutenant colonel Bert Cumby and his wife.
    CBS News, CBS News, 17 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Winning Is Everything, Stupid, by Matt Tyrnauer, goes deep into what shaped James Carville’s incorrigible character, including his Catholic, working-class youth in Carville—a Louisiana town with fewer than 900 inhabitants, almost half of them inmates at the local leper colony.
    airmail.news, airmail.news, 3 Oct. 2024
  • But one thing’s for sure—there were some among them who chose to become lepers.
    Lee Chang-dong, The New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2024
Noun
  • But fans of the show's illustrious rejects — would-be cast members who auditioned but didn't get invited to join the cast — could make an argument their team has had just as much success, maybe more.
    Saba Hamedy, NBC News, 17 Feb. 2025
  • His growth throughout the series is kind of the whole point of the show, from the social reject of the village to one of its most reliable and trustworthy warriors, beloved by all.
    David Faris, Newsweek, 29 Dec. 2024

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Cite this Entry

“Pariah.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pariah. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.

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