to lose caste

Preserved but no longer current.

Meaning · English

To lose position in society. To get degraded from one caste to an inferior one.

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Common questions

What does “to lose caste” mean?

To lose position in society. To get degraded from one caste to an inferior one.

Is “to lose caste” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.