obcy

Obcy is a Polish word that functions as both an adjective and a noun. As an adjective, it means foreign or unfamiliar, used to describe things that originate outside a group, country, or culture. Examples include obcy język (foreign language), obca kultura (foreign culture), and obce słowa (foreign words). As a noun, obcy can refer to a person who is not a member of the group, i.e., a foreigner or outsider.

The word has gendered forms for adjectives: obcy (masculine), obca (feminine), and obce (neuter), and it is declined accordingly in sentences. When used as a noun, it is typically masculine singular and takes corresponding inflections in different cases.

In culture and media, obcy also carries connotations of strangeness or otherness. In Polish translations, the extraterrestrial being is often rendered as Obcy, and the film Alien is released in Poland under that title, as Obcy – ósmy pasażer Nostromo. The term appears in common phrases such as obcy wśród nas (the outsider among us) or obcy kraj (foreign country), reflecting its broad usage to describe anything external or unfamiliar to a group.