untouchable
Americanadjective
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that may not be touched; of a nature such that it cannot be touched; not palpable; intangible.
-
too distant to be touched.
-
vile or loathsome to the touch.
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beyond criticism, control, or suspicion.
Modern writers consider no subject untouchable.
noun
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Hinduism. the former name given to a member of the lowest castes in India whose touch was believed to defile a high-caste Hindu.
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a person who is beyond reproach as to honesty, diligence, etc.
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a person disregarded or shunned by society or a particular group; social outcast.
political untouchables.
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a person or thing considered inviolable or beyond criticism.
such untouchables as Social Security in the federal budget.
adjective
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lying beyond reach
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above reproach, suspicion, or impeachment
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unable to be touched
noun
Usage
In relation to the caste system, the term untouchable is banned in both the Indian and Pakistani constitutions
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of untouchable
Vocabulary lists containing untouchable
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
For nearly 70 years, Just Fontaine’s tally of 13 goals at the 1958 World Cup was considered untouchable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Such concessions were long considered untouchable by revolutionary hard-liners like Valdés.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
Now the World Cup's record goalscorer and, as he celebrates his 39th birthday, still seemingly untouchable.
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026
To make matters worse, some 90% of government spending goes to sectors considered untouchable, like the military or pensions, says Paul Dmitriev, an emerging markets portfolio manager at Global X ETFs.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
It was clean and orderly with rows of perfectly placed shelves, which seemed untouchable.
From "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick
“There shouldn’t be some sort of untouchables list of people who are immune from enforcement.”
From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026
By the end of the regular season he had moved from luxury to necessity, ballooning into the conversation as one of the Lakers Big Three untouchables.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2025
The partnership's "overly collegial" culture made staff reluctant to call out misbehavior, especially from "rainmakers" who were described as "untouchables" to whom "the rules don't always apply", the review also found.
From Reuters ● Sep. 27, 2023
National security advisers, who form a chain of foreign policy expertise from administration to administration, are mostly untouchables, too.
From Washington Post ● May 24, 2022
But also they were outlaws, enemies, untouchables, doomed with absolute certainty to extinction within a year or two.
From "1984" by George Orwell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
