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Is there any variation/conjugation of the word 'ostracism' that refers to a person who is ostracized?

Similar to 'conviction' and 'a convict'.

The word ostracism is used by the author I am citing and I would preferably use his own choice of words, but I'm not sure it will be possible for this construction.

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4 Answers 4

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It’s unrelated to ostracise, but how about outcast?

Ostracism comes from Greek ostrakon (related to osteon, “bone”), which referred to the clay ballots on which individuals would write the names of those they wished to banish from their community. Outcast is much more literal, and a much older word in English.

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A person who is ostracized is a pariah:

pariah
noun
1 an outcast: they were treated as social pariahs.

[source: NOAD]

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  • pariah sounds like it has negative or accusatory connotation, but I'm not sure (non native speaker). The author refers to himself as being ostracized, which is different than viewing oneself as a pariah, no? Outcast is maybe more neutral?
    – joon
    Commented Mar 13, 2012 at 21:26
  • @joon: I agree. Pariah is a much more negative term. It originally referred to a member of a low Indian caste, and was only recently (1819) extended to mean “social outcast”.
    – Jon Purdy
    Commented Mar 13, 2012 at 21:31
  • So who said it couldn't be negative?
    – Robusto
    Commented Oct 3, 2014 at 0:22
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A third, somewhat legalistic possibility is persona non grata.

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"expatriate"; exile, removed, expelled

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  • This answer would be better with correct formatting for a definition, and perhaps a link. See Robustos answer for an example.
    – dwjohnston
    Commented Oct 2, 2014 at 20:49

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