A leper is a person who has leprosy. This word could cause offence.
2. countable noun
If you refer to someone as a leper, you mean that people in their community avoid them because they have done something that has shocked or offended people.
The newspaper article had branded her a social leper not fit to be seen in company.
Synonyms: outcast, reject, untouchable, pariah More Synonyms of leper
leper in British English
(ˈlɛpə)
noun
1.
a person who has leprosy
2. derogatory
a person who is ignored or despised
▶ USAGE Rather than talking about a leper or lepers, it is better to talk about a person with leprosy and people with leprosy
Word origin
C14: via Late Latin from Greek lepra, noun use of lepros scaly, from lepein to peel
leper in American English
(ˈlɛpər)
noun
1.
a person having leprosy
2.
a person to be shunned or ostracized, as because of the danger of moral contamination
Word origin
ME lepre, leprosy < OFr < LL lepra (L leprae, pl.) < Gr < lepros, rough, scaly < lepein, to peel < IE base *lep-, to peel off, scale > OE læfer, rush, reed
Synonyms of 'leper'
outcast, reject, untouchable, pariah
More Synonyms of leper
(noun)
Definition
a person who is avoided
The article branded her a social leper.
Synonyms
outcast
She had always been an outcast, unwanted and alone.
reject
untouchable
pariah
I was treated like a pariah for the rest of the journey.
lazar (archaic)
Additional synonyms
in the sense of pariah
Definition
a social outcast
I was treated like a pariah for the rest of the journey.