untouchability
State beyond criticism
Untouchability is the quality of being beyond reach, criticism, or consequence.
In its most specific sense, it refers to the Hindu caste system's designation of certain groups as ritually impure and excluded from social contact—a practice now legally prohibited in India but socially persistent.
More broadly, untouchability describes the protected status of those too powerful or connected to face accountability: The CEO's untouchability made employees afraid to report problems.
Forced separation by group
- exclusionBeing barred from participation
- prejudicePreformed unfavorable opinion
- bigotryIntolerance toward differing views
- inequalityUnequal distribution of resources
oppression · marginalization · public spaces · housing discrimination · economic boycott · social exclusion · systemic discrimination · dehumanization
Hindu hereditary social order
- ritual purityUndefiled state for worship
- caste systemHereditary class division
- endogamyMarriage within one's group
- inter-casteBetween social hierarchy levels
Painful awareness of failure
- ostracismBanishment from a group
- humiliationLoss of dignity
- disgraceLoss of honor
- contemptDisdainful disregard
dishonor · pollution · impurity · defiling · social death · outcaste · pariah · degradation
Undefiled state for worship
- pollutionEnvironmental harm from waste
- contaminationIntroduction of impurities
- defilementAct of corrupting purity
- sacredWorthy of reverence
profane · purification · cleansing · ablution · sanctity · impure · defiled · polluting
Act of changing states
- reservationAdvance arrangement to hold
- affirmative actionPrograms boosting marginalized representation
- social reformOrganized push for societal betterment
- abolitionFormal discontinuation of practice
emancipation · dignity · equality · annihilation · assertion · reclamation · constitutional rights · civil rights
segregation
Forced separation by group
- exclusionBeing barred from participation
- prejudicePreformed unfavorable opinion
- bigotryIntolerance toward differing views
inequality · oppression · marginalization · public spaces · housing discrimination · economic boycott · social exclusion · systemic discrimination · dehumanization
varna
Hindu hereditary social order
- ritual purityUndefiled state for worship
- caste systemHereditary class division
- endogamyMarriage within one's group
inter-caste · subcaste · caste discrimination · social hierarchy
shame
Painful awareness of failure
- ostracismBanishment from a group
- humiliationLoss of dignity
- disgraceLoss of honor
contempt · dishonor · pollution · impurity · defiling · social death · outcaste · pariah · degradation · indignity
ritual purity
Undefiled state for worship
- pollutionEnvironmental harm from waste
- contaminationIntroduction of impurities
- defilementAct of corrupting purity
sacred · profane · purification · cleansing · ablution · sanctity · impure · defiled · polluting
conversion
Act of changing states
- reservationAdvance arrangement to hold
- affirmative actionPrograms boosting marginalized representation
- social reformOrganized push for societal betterment
abolition · emancipation · dignity · equality · annihilation · assertion · reclamation · constitutional rights · civil rights
- social issuesinequality, racism, poverty, illiteracy, homelessness
- discriminationracism, systemic discrimination, Jim Crow laws, sexism, racial harassment
- HinduismVishnu, Shiva, Krishna, Ganesh, Ganesha
- Indian Societycaste, varna, Dalit, caste system, social hierarchy
- GandhiMahatma Gandhi, satyagraha, ahimsa, nonviolence, khadi
- taboostaboo, incest, cannibalism, bestiality, necrophilia
untouchabilityinclusion
Being made part
equality · social integration · acceptance · social equality · egalitarianism
untouchabilityaccessibility
Ease of approach
approachability · vulnerability · reachability · tangibility · embraceability
untouchabilitypurity
Uncontaminated quality
ritual purity · sanctity · ritual cleanliness · cleanliness · sacredness
touch, touching, touched, touchy, untouched, intangible, untouchable, touchable, unapproachable