destitute
Syllables: des·ti·tute/ˈdɛstɪtʃuːt//ˈdɛstɪtuːt/
destitute adjective: lacking something; devoid.
Adjective
destitute (comparative more destitute, superlative most destitute)
- Lacking something; devoid.
- Now, though this region may scarcely be said to be wedded to science, being to all intents a virgin territory as respects the enquirer into natural history, still it is greatly destitute of the treasures of the vegetable kingdom.1827, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 9, in The Prairie
- In thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 141:8
- Lacking money, poor, impoverished; especially, extremely so.
- Near-synonym: penniless
- ‘Do you know how pinched and destitute I am?’ she retorted. ‘I do not think you do, or can. If you had eyes, and could look around you on this poor place, you would have pity on me.[…]’
- In 1907 he moved from St. Louis to New York City, arriving as a famous composer. But he died a decade later at the age of 49, destitute in an asylum on Wards Island as ragtime was fading in popularity.1841 February–November, Charles Dickens, “Barnaby Rudge. Chapter 45.”, in Master Humphrey’s Clock, volume III, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC
Verb
destitute (third-person singular simple present destitutes, present participle destituting, simple past and past participle destituted)
- To impoverish; to strip of wealth, resources, etc.
- Synonyms:
- depauperate, pauperize, ruin, beggar, depauperize, embeggar, empoverish, immiserate, impoor, impoverish
destitute meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
destitute in Hindi
- poor, impoverished, poverty-stricken
- निराश्रित nirāśrit
destitute in Tamil
- ஆதரவற்ற, ஏதுமற்ற, கைவிடப்பட்ட, வகையற்றவர் அகதி கதியிலி, துணையற்ற, வகையற்ற
destitute in Marathi
- destitute
- अनाथ anāth
destitute in Urdu
- آوارہ, بےبہرہ, بےزر, غریب, کورا, لاچار
More languagesFewer languages
- destitute in Telugu
- అనాథ anātha
- destitute in Malayalam
- അഗതി agati
- destitute in Kannada
- ಪಂಜೆ, ಇಲ್ಲದವನು, ಕಡು ಬಡವ, ಬದಗ
- destitute in Sanskrit
- अनाथ anāthá
- destitute in Nepali
- निराश्रित
Examples of destitute in a sentence
- The prodigal son spent his share of his inheritance until he was destitute.
- The poorest of the poor are truly destitute, with so few assets they are basically shackless.
- Thus, in its work with destitute children, the protectory did everything it could to keep families together.
Synonyms of destitute
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- beggarly
- boracic
- broke
- broken
- broker than the Ten Commandments
- dirt poor
- disadvantaged
- down and out
- down at heel
- down on one's luck
- down on one's uppers
- empty-handed
- farthingless
- feeling the pinch
- flat
- goodless
- hard up
- impoverished
- in need
- indigent
- insolvent
- lower-class
- moneyless
- necessitous
- needy
- pauperized
- penniless
- penurious
- pinched
- pok kai
Forms of destitute
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more destitute |
| superlative | most destitute |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | destitutes |
| present participle | destituting |
| past participle | destituted |
| past | destituted |
Origin of destitute
From Middle English destitute, destitut, from Latin dēstitūtus.
From Middle English destituten, from the adjective (see above).
Words formed from destitute
Questions about destitute
- What does destitute mean?
- Destitute means lacking something; devoid.
- What is destitute in Hindi?
- Destitute in Hindi is निराश्रित (nirāśrit). See Destitute meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is destitute?
- Destitute can be an adjective or a verb.
- How do you pronounce destitute?
- Destitute is pronounced /ˈdɛstɪtʃuːt/.
Words near destitute in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: destitute (page history and authors); destitute (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); अनाथ (Marathi) (page history and authors); destitute (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); అనాథ (Telugu) (page history and authors); അഗതി (Malayalam) (page history and authors); destitute (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); अनाथ (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); destitute (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-destitute.ogg, en-us-destitute.ogg.
Cite this entry: “destitute.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/destitute. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.