obcych

Obcych is the genitive plural form of the Polish adjective obcy, meaning foreign or alien. The base adjective obcy is used to describe people, groups, or things that belong to another country or culture, and it appears in personal, social, and literary contexts. Obcych occurs most often as part of possessive or relational phrases, for example ludzie obcych krajów (people of foreign countries), mieszkańcy obcych państw, or język obcy (a foreign language). As a noun, obcy can refer to a foreigner; in that use, the word appears in various grammatical cases, including obcych in phrases like obcych ludzi or obcych dziennikarzy.

Usage and tone: The term is largely neutral when used descriptively, but it can carry negative or exclusionary connotations depending on context, particularly in discussions of immigration, integration, or xenophobia. In literature and journalism, obcy often frames the outsider as others or as a source of cultural contrast.

Etymology and related terms: The word derives from Slavic roots meaning "other" or "strange" and is cognate with related terms in other languages, such as Czech cizí or Russian chuzhoy. In Polish, related words include cudzoziemiec (foreigner) and cudzoziemski (foreign, expatriate), which are used in more formal or neutral contexts.

See also: obcy, cudzoziemiec, cudzoziemski, obcość (foreignness).