Forum: ell.stackexchange.com
Tags: <word-request>
Title: The opposite of "wanted"
Question: When a person is  wanted  everybody wants to work with him, he's popular and is always asked for. But is there an opposite for  wanted , meaning a person who isn't popular at work, someone whom nobody wants to work with.  I was thinking of the word  outcast  but I doubt it can refer to such a meaning considering its definition.  I would like to fit it into this context:   My friend is always wanted while I am always [this word].

Answers:
sents: text: The obvious answers are the words you've mentioned, but with un prepended: unpopular or unwanted .
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/54962/Trent Bing
score: 23
sents: text: You could easily say that "people (at work) avoid him", but if you want to use an adjective (grammatically speaking a past participle used as an adjective) you could use shunned .
text: Definition of shun: in the wiktionary : "to avoid, especially persistently."
text: in Cambridge online : "to ignore someone and not speak to that person because you cannot accept their behaviour, beliefs, etc.
text: "
text: Here are examples of the use of the word in this context:
text: In a book about Michael Jackson: A man who won eight Grammys just four years earlier was shunned on that night;
text: ( Michael Jackson & the Music That Was , The Voice of One, 2016)
text: In a conversation in a contemporary "romance": My mother, you see, was shunned when she became pregnant with Roland and me.
text: ( Mated in Mist: A Paranormal Shifter Talon Pack Romance , Carrie Ann Ryan, 2016)
text: In an autobiography: At play time I was shunned.
text: The boys and girls didn't want to talk to me.
text: ( He Touched Me: An Autobiography , Benny Hinn, 2001)
text: In a detective novel: You knew what would happen to his family if he was shunned.
text: ( Roots of Murder , Janis Harrison, 1999) In the written press: Those born on Skye are shunned if they say anything against the wind farm.
text: They no longer exist.
text: ( The Telegraph - 05/06/2005)
text: They survived Ebola.
text: Now they are shunned ( The Washington Post , 13/08/2014)
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/2818/None
score: 14
sents: text: What about unwelcome ? unwelcome : not wanted or welcome &bullet;
text: unwelcome news &bullet; an unwelcome guest (M-W)
text: This is especially apt if you are trying to join some groups or activities.
text: I think the simple avoided could work:
text: avoid transitive verb 1 a : to keep away from : shun &bullet; They have been avoiding me.
text: (M-W) Ignored could work, especially if you are actively trying to get everyone's attention or approval.
text: In my opinion, the first part of the sentence implies that it is because you are not wanted.
text: ignore transitive verb 1 : to refuse to take notice of (M-W)
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/36187/Em.
score: 10
sents: text: There are some good answers, but I wanted to add Pariah to the mix.
text: one that is despised or rejected In your sample sentence, it would read like:
text: My friend is always wanted while I am always (treated like) a pariah.
text: It is pretty strong though.
text: You wouldn't necessarily use it to describe a one-off situation, rather if the rejection was a fairly regular occurrence.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/29859/Obsidian Phoenix
score: 8
sents: text: If you want something with a negative ring to it you can use scorned a. Contempt or disdain felt toward a person or object considered despicable or unworthy: viewed his rivals with scorn.
text: b.
text: The expression of such an attitude in behavior or speech; derision: heaped scorn upon his rivals. c.
text: The state of being despised or dishonored: held in scorn by his rivals.
text: Archaic
text: One spoken of or treated with contempt.
text: tr.v.
text: scorned, scorn·ing, scorns To consider or treat as contemptible or unworthy: an artist who was scorned by conservative critics.
text: To reject or refuse with derision: scorned their offer of help.
text: See Synonyms at despise.
text: To consider or reject (doing something)
text: as beneath one's dignity
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/13710/Klas Lindbäck
score: 6
sents: text: Disliked. From Cambridge: Dislike ( noun ) a feeling of not liking something or someone.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/55051/Thirdymatic
score: 3
sents: text: Actually, outcast is a pretty good word to use here.
text: The usage would be like so: My friend is always wanted, while I'm always the outcast.
text: or as others have noted, if you're not actively cast out of groups but rather just not noticed: My friend is always wanted, while I'm always overlooked.
text: My friend is always wanted, while I go unnoticed.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/47717/John Hamilton
score: 3
sents: text: Undesireable Either in the adjective form: having qualities that are not pleasing or wanted an undesirable effect or the noun form one that is undesirable
text: Seem to fit here.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/38001/JimmyJames
score: 3
sents: text: Repulsive would fit in case where you describe a person you don't want to work with, but with a more emotional (they behave badly, smell/look unpleasantly), rather than objective (if they are a low productivity worker) sense.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/2558/user1306322
score: 1
sents: text: I feel like out of place would fit here.
text: Out of place :
text: [...] Fig.
text: [of someone ] awkward and unwelcome.
text: (*Typically: be ~; feel ~; seem ~.)
text: I feel out of place at formal dances.
text: Bob and Ann felt out of place at the picnic, so they went home.
text: My friend is always wanted while (I am always/
text: I always feel) out of place.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/49545/Toivo Säwén
score: 1
sents: text: I like Anathema, myself.
text: As in, "Gideon was anathema at the office."
text: It has the connotation of someone who is avoided, shunned, and held in low regard.
text: Anathema, in common usage, is something or someone that is detested or shunned.
text: In its other main usage, it is a formal excommunication.
text: The latter meaning, its ecclesiastical sense, is based on New Testament usage.
text: Wikipedia
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/55149/Chris Berger
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
Suggestions include disliked, outcast, undesirable or repulsive.
Disliked, outcast, repulsive, undesireable, repulsive would fit too.