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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
See Examples For:
Kapelovitz focuses on felony defense, though he handles “everything from disturbing the peace to murder” for a client base that is 90% indigent.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
He also raised funds to provide free inoculation for indigent children in Philadelphia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 14, 2026
The state’s high court handed down a decision Monday that vacated court fines for an alleged prison gang leader, setting a precedent that advocates said will help indigent defendants in other cases.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2026
His 2001 land reform program redistributed government-owned and private land to indigent residents willing to cultivate it.
From Slate ● Jan. 15, 2026
Soon after Mayor Clarkson heard Rush’s news that yellow fever had reappeared, he tried to address the problem of indigent individuals.
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
When it becomes apparent, with the approach of evening, that the city cannot house all its indigents, those already in the library decide to stay there overnight.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 5, 2019
Nothing fancy or pretentious at this humble site, a resting place established for city indigents in the 1870s.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 28, 2019
For 12 years she maintained an appellate practice in California representing indigents on appeal from adverse rulings.
From Slate ● Jun. 21, 2018
The emergency needs of indigents who were not members of the Society were also taken care of, though regular members received most of the organization’s benefits.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 12, 2016
People swarming in, cities doubling and trebling in numbers of inhabitants, while the fiscal guardians groan over the increasing weight of improvements and the need to care for a large new spate of indigents.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
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.
