Pariahs

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person shunned or rejected by society for their differences, often facing disdain and exclusion from social circles
2. Individuals who are widely avoided and ostracized due to their perceived differences or unacceptable traits
3. Persons who experience exclusion from groups and communities because they are deemed undesirable or unacceptable

Etymology: The English word comes from the drums of southern India. In Tamil, a "parai" was a large drum used to announce the king's proclamations to the public, and the people who played it were called "paraiyar," literally "drummers." Because drumming was work done by people in the lower strata of the caste system, the name became a derogatory label for those at the bottom of society, and it passed into English in that sense, with the spelling "pariah" settling in later. Not everyone agrees on the route. Some scholars trace the word instead to the Sanskrit "para," meaning "distant" or "outsider," which would make a pariah literally someone kept at a distance. The drummer explanation is the one usually preferred, but the outsider reading fits the word's modern sense just as neatly.

Synonyms: outcasts, lepers, rejects, undesirables, social outcasts

Antonyms: accepted individuals, insiders, members, belongers, participants