untouchability

American  

[uhn-tuhch-uh-bil-i-tee] / ˌʌn tʌtʃ əˈbɪl ɪ ti /

noun

Hinduism.

1. the quality or condition of being an untouchable, ascribed in the Vedic tradition to persons of low caste or to persons excluded from the caste system.

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Etymology

Origin of untouchability

First recorded in 1920–25; untouch(able) + -ability

Example Sentences

"Bringing it up in a team meeting was indicative of the power and untouchability that he felt," observed South African journalist Neil Manthorp.

From BBC • Jul. 30, 2025

In December, she wrote that the “assassins…feel that their reign of impunity and untouchability seems to be coming to an end.”

From Seattle Times • Jan. 29, 2024

Besides abolishing untouchability, successive governments have introduced legislation to curb caste-based violence and to provide lower caste groups opportunities they were denied for centuries.

From Washington Post • Feb. 21, 2022

Dalit soldiers fighting for the British played a major role in the victory — which came to symbolize the Dalit community’s fight against untouchability.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 26, 2021

We watch as Janine enters the roped-off enclosure, in her veil of untouchability, of bad luck.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood