North Korea has been treated as a pariah state for most of its existence.
Source: tatoeba (927301)
Pariah
/pəˈɹaɪə/
Synonyms for "pariah" (102 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (21)
Strong matches (30)
Related words (51)
meshuggenahnaturalnonconformistnutodd fellowoddballoddityoriginaloutcastoutcast of societyoutcasteoutlawoutsiderpersona non gratapillar saintpillaristqueer duckqueer fishqueer specimenrara avis
Show 18 more words
reclusescrewballseclusionistshut inshut-insocial outcastsolitairesolitarysolitudinarianstay-at-homestylitetimon of athenstramptypeunacceptable personundesirableuntouchablezealot
Noun(11 words)
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: outcast, academic misfit, accursed, alien, anathema.
- Sentence evidence is available for pariah, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
- Ranking signals come from wordnet, opengloss, derived_reverse, moby, and related lexical sources.
Synonym selection checklist
- Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
- Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
- Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "pariah".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "pariah"
Keep "pariah" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Replacement workflow
1. Preserve meaning
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "pariah" intact in the sentence you are editing.
2. Tune tone
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
3. Re-read context
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
Final fit check
After choosing a replacement for "pariah", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "pariah" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
6 entriesMore specific
3 entriespariah dogpariah nationpariah state
Collocations
5 entriespariah dogpariah nationpariah statepariah statussocial pariah
Inflections
1 entriesDerivations
2 entriesSample sentences
10 total sentences available.
Therefore “Obama is focused on isolating Putin’s Russia by cutting off its economic and political ties to the outside world, limiting its expansionist ambitions in its own neighborhood and effectively making it a pariah state,” Peter Baker reports in The New York Times.
Source: tatoeba (3231568)
Putin will be a pariah on the international stage.
Source: tatoeba (10698071)
The US is a pariah state that destroys nations to the ground and gets away with it.
Source: tatoeba (11173243)
Showing 4 of 10 available sentences.
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "pariah"?
Closest matches include outcast, academic misfit, accursed, alien, anathema.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "pariah"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.