noun
leper
LEHP
noun
1
A person suffering from leprosy, a disease that damages the skin and nerves.
"Historically, lepers were often forced to live outside town walls."
2
Someone who is shunned or avoided by everyone else, often figuratively.
"After the scandal broke, he became a social leper at the office."
How to Use Leper
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishSomeone with leprosy, or, more commonly today, someone treated as an outcast.
When to use it
The medical use is now largely replaced by "person with Hansen's disease"; the figurative sense ("social leper") is the one most commonly heard today.
Word Forms
lepered past tense, lepers plural, lepers singular
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Etymology
From Greek lepra, "scaly disease," describing the flaking skin symptoms of leprosy.
Rhymes for leper
keeper
peeper
beeper
sweeper
sleeper
creeper
steeper
beekeeper
innkeeper
zookeeper
goalkeeper
shopkeeper
See all rhymes for leper →