untouchability

noun

un·​touch·​abil·​i·​ty ˌən-ˌtə-chə-ˈbi-lə-tē How to pronounce untouchability (audio)
: the quality or state of being untouchable
especially : the state of being an untouchable

Examples of untouchability in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Market Perception and Value Erosion: Even before any actual financial collapse occurs, a change in market sentiment regarding the untouchability of Search could lead to a significant erosion of Alphabet’s market capitalization. Trefis Team, Forbes.com, 8 May 2025 What’s more important than the why, though, is the pattern Dark Winds uses these characters to establish: of the corrupted nature of the U.S. government and the smug untouchability of its allies and actors. Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 28 Apr. 2025 More than a century later, the battle inspired the author of India's Constitution, B.R. Ambedkar, on his crusade to abolish untouchability and to write affirmative action into Indian law. Lauren Frayer, NPR, 2 June 2024 This was astonishing—a sign of Lamar’s untouchability, and of growing pains for a rebellious genre that has become an institution. Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 10 Apr. 2024 Maybe not even Serbian untouchability. Bill Dwyre, Los Angeles Times, 8 Oct. 2021 The Indian Constitution of 1950 had officially abolished untouchability, declared caste discrimination a crime, and created affirmative-action quotas for Dalits and indigenous tribes—in part because a formidable Dalit thinker and leader, B. R. Ambedkar, had played a crucial role in writing it. Sunil Khilnani, The New Yorker, 7 Aug. 2020 During the show, Mr. Sarkar talks about how untouchability was normalized in his home village. Qadri Inzamam, The Christian Science Monitor, 17 Oct. 2022 As a newly independent nation, India adopted a constitution in 1950 abolishing untouchability, but caste discrimination remained entrenched in society. Washington Post, 21 Feb. 2022

Word History

First Known Use

1919, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of untouchability was in 1919

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Cite this Entry

“Untouchability.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/untouchability. Accessed 18 May. 2025.

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