indigent
/ˈɪndɪd͡ʒənt/
indigent adjective: poor; destitute; in need.
Adjective
indigent (comparative more indigent, superlative most indigent)
- Poor; destitute; in need.
- Many of the indigent children are so badly provided for by their parents, with both food and raiment, that they cannot attend school regularly; […]1830, Thomas Ritchie, Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia, page 422
- And were I not a thing for you and me
To execrate in anguish, you would be
As indigent a stranger to surprise,
I fear, as I was once, and as unwise.1932, Edwin Arlington Robinson, “Prodigal Son”, in Nicodemus
- Utterly lacking or in need of something specified.
- Again some Bodies dissolve both in Fire and Water, as Gums; &c. And these are such, as have both Plenty of Spirit; and their tangible Parts indigent of Moisture: the former promotes the Dilatation of the Spirits by the Fire and the latter stimulates the Parts to receive the Liquor.1620, Francis Bacon, Instauratio Magnus, Part III, Section ii, subsection "Liquifaction"
- Will Providence guard us? How do I ſee that our Sex is naturally Indigent of Protection?—I hope it is in Fate to crown our Loves; for 'tis only in the Protection of Men of Honour, that we are naturally truly Safe […]1701, Richard Steele, The Funeral: or, Grief A-la-mode, act II, scene 1
Noun
indigent (plural indigents)
- A person in need, or in poverty.
- I liked the streets best, so I walked and stared, and slept in a Salvation Army hostel for indigents. But I was no indigent; I was rich in feeling, and that was a luxury I had rarely known.1975, Robertson Davies, World of Wonders, Penguin Books, published 1976, →ISBN, page 161
- The influx of indigents overwhelmed the city's meagre social services and affordable accommodation.2009, Mara Vorhees, Moscow, Lonely Planet, →ISBN, page 29
indigent meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
indigent in Tamil
- தரித்திரமான, வறுமையான, வறிய, ஏழையான, நல்கூர்ந்த, எளிய
indigent in Urdu
- indigent
- دین dīn
indigent in Bengali
- poor; destitute
- মুহতাজ muhotaj
indigent in Malayalam
- പാവപ്പെട്ട, അഗതിയായ, ദരിദ്രമായ, ജീവിതമാർഗ്ഗമില്ലാത്ത
More languagesFewer languages
- indigent in Kannada
- ಬಡ, ಪಂಜೆ, ಇಲ್ಲದ
Examples of indigent in a sentence
- Because of this, when my second major health fiasco happened, I had no insurance, so I went to a teaching hospital where they took indigent patients.2011, Carla Ulbrich, How Can You Not Laugh at a Time Like This?: Reclaim Your Health With Humor, Creativity, and Grit, Tell Me Press...
- The result was that many more indigents had to forgo care.2011, Michael Parenti, Democracy for the Few, Wadsworth, →ISBN, page 78:
Synonyms of indigent
- almsless
- arm
- badly off
- bankrupt
- beggared
- beggarly
- boracic
- broke
- broken
- broker than the Ten Commandments
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- destitute
- 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
- impecunious
- impoverished
- in need
- insolvent
- lower-class
- moneyless
- necessitous
- needy
- pauperized
- penniless
- penurious
- pinched
- pok kai
- poor
- poor as a church mouse
- poor as a rat
- poor as Job
Antonyms
Forms of indigent
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more indigent |
| superlative | most indigent |
| Noun | |
| plural | indigents |
Origin of indigent
From Middle English indigent, from Old French indigent, from Latin indigēns, present participle of indigeō (“to need”), from indu (“in, within”) + egeō (“to be in need, want”).
Words formed from indigent
Questions about indigent
- What does indigent mean?
- Indigent means poor; destitute; in need.
- What is indigent in Tamil?
- Indigent in Tamil is தரித்திரமான, வறுமையான, வறிய. See Indigent meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use indigent in a sentence?
- Because of this, when my second major health fiasco happened, I had no insurance, so I went to a teaching hospital where they took indigent patients.
- What part of speech is indigent?
- Indigent can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce indigent?
- Indigent is pronounced /ˈɪndɪd͡ʒənt/.
Words near indigent in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: indigent (page history and authors); indigent (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); دین (Urdu) (page history and authors); indigent (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); indigent (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). 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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Cite this entry: “indigent.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/indigent. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.