beggars

Noun

beggar (plural beggars)

1. A person who begs.
   • “[…] They talk of you as if you were Croesus—and I expect the beggars sponge on you unconscionably.” And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   mendicant, panhandler, schnorrer, spanger, truant

2. A person suffering from extreme poverty.
   • I'm to be a poor, crawling beggar, sponging for rum, when I might be rolling in a coach!1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   palliard, pauper, vagabond, bankrupt, indigent, insolvent, have not, lack-all, Lazarus, penny-father

3. (colloquial, endearing, sometimes) A mean or wretched person; a scoundrel.
   • What does that silly beggar think he's doing?

   Synonyms:

   hellraiser, rascal, scapegrace, agitator, bad boy, bad news, bear, bhoy, blackguard, booger

4. (UK) A minced oath for bugger.
   • Moreover, the pathing tool, which always has the potential to be a fussy little beggar, is especially uncooperative in career mode where there is a lot of bespoke geometry.2025 February, Rick Lane, “Review: Planet Coaster 2”, in PC Gamer (US), number 392, page 69; published online 1 November 2024
5. the last placer in Tycoon

   Antonyms:

   tycoon

See all 7 meanings of beggar