- Today's Word
Pariah
puh-RY-uh
Definition
- (noun) A person who is rejected or ostracized by society or a particular group; an outcast.
Example
After exposing the company’s unethical practices, he became a pariah in the corporate world, shunned by colleagues who feared association with him.
Fun Fact
The word “pariah” comes from the Tamil word paraiyar, which referred to a hereditary group of drummers in southern India who were considered social outcasts under the caste system. The term entered English during British colonial rule in India and evolved into a metaphor for anyone who is marginalized or excluded. Interestingly, its adoption into English reflects the cultural intersections and linguistic exchanges of colonial history, highlighting how specific cultural practices can influence broader language usage.
(adjective) Extremely unwilling to spend money; miserly and stingy to a degree that causes hardship for others.
The penurious landlord refused to replace the building’s broken heating system for three winters running, calculating that complaints were cheaper to ignore than repairs were to make.
Penurious derives from the Latin penuria, meaning “want” or “scarcity,” rooted in the Greek penia meaning “poverty.” It entered English in the 16th century carrying both its literal sense of genuine poverty and its more cutting figurative sense of someone who hoards wealth despite having it — the distinction between being poor and merely acting poor being central to the word’s particular sting.