indigent
Americanadjective
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lacking food, clothing, and other necessities of life because of poverty; needy; poor; impoverished.
- Synonyms:
- distressed, penurious, necessitous
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Archaic.
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deficient in what is requisite.
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destitute (usually followed byof ).
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noun
adjective
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so poor as to lack even necessities; very needy
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archaic (usually foll by of) lacking (in) or destitute (of)
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of indigent
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin indigent-, stem of indigēns “needing, lacking,” present participle of indigēre “to need, lack, be poor,” from ind-, variant of in- in- 2 ( cf. indagate) + -igēre, combining form of egēre “to need, lack”
Explanation
An indigent person is extremely poor, lacking the basic resources of a normal life. Often the indigent lack not only money but homes. Indigent comes from a Latin word meaning wanting, which we used to use to mean “lacking” and not just to describe desires. Homeless shelters, soup kitchens, free medical clinics and court-appointed lawyers are all institutions that our society has developed to help indigent people.
Vocabulary lists containing indigent
Just Mercy
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "I"
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This Week in Words: April 14 - 20, 2018
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Indigent defendants may be assigned great public defenders—or terrible ones, who fail to prepare and even nap at trial.
From Slate • Dec. 2, 2024
Indigent defense—defense for people who lack the resources to hire their own lawyer—is in crisis in this country.
From Salon • May 24, 2022
According to a Local Indigent Care Needs assessment, Snohomish County has more than 20,000 teens, between the ages of 12-19, who are living below the poverty line on less than $25,000 a year.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 22, 2022
Eventually, the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children expanded into a hospital and a women’s medical college.
From Washington Post • Feb. 4, 2021
Indigent men, seeking to enrich themselves by marrying a woman of fortune.
From 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue by Grose, Francis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
