leper:
(plural: ‘lepers‘; for the right pronunciation, please click here)
an unfortunate leper with a disfigured face
a person who has the deadly disease of leprosy;
(also called ‘social leper’) an indecent, annoying or troublesome person whom other people avoid or ignore, such as a friend or relative who always asks for money or some other favour or a known person who always quarrels with others (in this context, the “leper” may be a healthy person, i.e. without leprosy disease),
a leper abandoned by his family
In some countries, a poor ‘leper’ is subjected to the same unjust treatment of driven away from the locality as a leper in the middle ages was.
There are several charity organisations, mostly of the Christian religion, which help treat the lepers who have been rejected by their family and friends.
It is discovered that armadillos in Americas carry the same leprosy bacteria as the lepers do, and so these cute animals are used in research in leprosy related cures.
Drinkers, drug abusers and anti-social elements are treated as social lepers in all most all societies in the modern world.
