Crossword Dictionary
OUTCAST
outcast, castaway, pariah, Ishmael - n
a person who is rejected (from society or home)
Synonyms
fugitive, untouchable, vagabond, bum, castaway, deportee, derelict, exile, expatriate, gypsy, hobo, rascal, refugee, reprobate, tramp, vagrant, wretch, displaced person, persona non grata
Examples
He was an outcast, especially by his mother, though she wouldn't admit it.
Like him, he is lame and an outcast for nine years; like him, he is brought back in time of need.
While Caddy thinks it's a game to help her outcast friend get her revenge against them, she suddenly finds herself their leader--even in a pursuit of the former leader's boyfriend!
Etymology
mid-14c., "an exile, a pariah, a person cast out or rejected," literally "that which is cast out," noun use of past participle of Middle English outcasten "to throw out or expel, reject," from out (adv.) + casten "to cast" (see cast (v.)). The adjective is attested from late 14c., "abject, socially despised." The verbal phrase cast out "discard, reject" is from c. 1200. In an Indian context, outcaste "one who has been expelled from his caste" is from 1876; see caste.