pariah

/pəˈɹaɪə/

//pəˈɹaɪə// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"pariah" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“pariah” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #39,017. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#39,017
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
11
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Synonym of outcast: A person despised and excluded by their family, community, or society, especially a member of the untouchable castes in Indian society.

Corpus desk

Index EN-pariah · pariah · English

pariah · rank #39,017 · 8 variants · 11 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #39,017
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 11 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH pari

Nearest frequency peer: pari (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “pariah”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “pariah” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

pariah vs Paris
50% similar
pariah vs parma
67% similar
pariah vs parka
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for pariah
PropertyValue
Headwordpariah
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pəˈɹaɪə/
Letters6
Frequency rank#39,017
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs11
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “pariah”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).pariahlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “pari” (#39,016), “parka” (#39,018), “panning” (#39,015). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “pariah” is #39,017. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around pariah (IPA /pəˈɹaɪə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #39,017 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for pariah, with forms such as "apriah", "pairah", and "paraih". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "Paris", "parma", "parka", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Tamil பறையர் (paṟaiyar), from பறையன் (paṟaiyaṉ, “drummer”), from பறை (paṟai, “drum”) or from Malayalam പറയർ (paṟayaṟ), from പറയൻ (paṟayaṉ, “drummer”), from പറ (paṟa, “drum”). Parai in Tamil or Para in Malayalam refers to a type of large drum designed t… The correct English form is pariah, spelled P-A-R-I-A-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    Synonym of outcast: A person despised and excluded by their family, community, or society, especially a member of the untouchable castes in Indian society.
  2. 2
    A similarly despised group of people or species of animal.
  3. 3
    Ellipsis of pariah dog (“an Indian breed, any stray dog in Indian contexts”).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how pariah appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. What is this smoking that it should be considered a crime? I believe in my heart that women are jealous of it, as of a rival. They speak of it as of some secret, awful vice that seizes upon a man, and makes him a Pariah from genteel society.
  2. I’m a pariah, outlawed from Time Lord society.

Etymology

From Tamil பறையர் (paṟaiyar), from பறையன் (paṟaiyaṉ, “drummer”), from பறை (paṟai, “drum”) or from Malayalam പറയർ (paṟayaṟ), from പറയൻ (paṟayaṉ, “drummer”), from പറ (paṟa, “drum”). Parai in Tamil or Para in Malayalam refers to a type of large drum designed to announce the king’s notices to the public. The people who made a living using the parai were called paraiyar; in the caste-based society they were in the lower strata, hence the derisive paraiah and pariah. Alternatively, derived from Sanskrit पर (para, “distant; outsider”).

This word in other languages

paria(Español)paria(Français)Paria(Deutsch)pária(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • apriah
  • pairah
  • paraih
  • pariahh
  • pariha
  • parriah
  • ppariah
  • praiah

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of pariah - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

apriah2pairah2paraih2pariahh1pariha2parriah1ppariah1praiah2
Edit distance from "pariah"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "pariah"?
"pariah" is spelled P-A-R-I-A-H. The IPA pronunciation is /pəˈɹaɪə/.
What does "pariah" mean?
As a noun, "pariah" means: Synonym of outcast: A person despised and excluded by their family, community, or society, especially a member of the untouchable castes in Indian society.
What words are commonly confused with "pariah"?
"pariah" is commonly confused with "Paris", "parma", "parka". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "pariah"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pariah" is /pəˈɹaɪə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "pariah"?
From Tamil பறையர் (paṟaiyar), from பறையன் (paṟaiyaṉ, “drummer”), from பறை (paṟai, “drum”) or from Malayalam പറയർ (paṟayaṟ), from പറയൻ (paṟayaṉ, “drummer”), from പറ (paṟa, “drum”). Parai in Tamil or Para in Malayalam refers to a type of large drum ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "pariah", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

peddle#39,021Obamas#38,998queued#39,042mythos#38,987

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

pillage8 variantsoffload8 variantsmucous8 variantssedate8 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list