undesirables

Society's rejected ones

Undesirables are people considered unwanted or objectionable by those in power or by mainstream society.

The term has historically targeted marginalized groups—immigrants, the poor, criminals, or those deemed morally deviant: The neighborhood association sought to keep out undesirables.

The word carries a clinical coldness that dehumanizes, often signaling prejudice dressed in bureaucratic language.

outcasts

pariahs

Socially rejected individuals

vagrants · deportees · fugitives · dissidents · heretics · displaced · stateless · banished · castoffs · lepers

prohibited

forbidden

Not allowed

excluded · off-limits · proscribed · debarred · vetoed · disallowed · restricted · censored · taboo · verboten

unwelcome

uninvited

Without formal welcome

unpopular · unfavored · rejected · rebuffed · snubbed · cold-shouldered · avoided · ignored · persona non grata · turned away

Categories
Opposites
social acceptance/welcome

undesirablesdesirables

Things worth having

honored guests · pillars of the community · insiders · invitees · the elect

social status/prestige

undesirableselites

Privileged powerful groups

dignitaries · high society · luminaries · notables · pillars of society

Family

undesirable, undesirably

Familiarity
Top 200,000
Profile
Used worldwide · Timeless · Negative · Everyday, not technical · Rated PG