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View synonyms for destitute

destitute

[ des-ti-toot, -tyoot ]

adjective

  1. without means of subsistence; lacking food, clothing, and shelter.

    Synonyms: impoverished, penniless, necessitous, indigent, poor, needy

    Antonyms: affluent

  2. deprived of, devoid of, or lacking (often followed by of ):

    destitute of children.

    Synonyms: deficient



verb (used with object)

, des·ti·tut·ed, des·ti·tut·ing.
  1. to leave destitute.

destitute

/ ˈdɛstɪˌtjuːt /

adjective

  1. lacking the means of subsistence; totally impoverished
  2. postpositivefoll byof completely lacking; deprived or bereft (of)

    destitute of words

  3. obsolete.
    abandoned or deserted


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Derived Forms

  • ˈdestiˌtuteness, noun

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Other Words From

  • desti·tutely adverb
  • desti·tuteness noun
  • pre·desti·tute adjective
  • un·desti·tute adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of destitute1

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin dēstitūtus (past participle of dēstituere to abandon, deprive of support), equivalent to dē- de- + stit- place, put (combining form of statuere; statute ) + -ū- thematic vowel + -tus past participle suffix

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Word History and Origins

Origin of destitute1

C14: from Latin dēstitūtus forsaken, from dēstituere to leave alone, from statuere to place

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Example Sentences

He’s married and settled down, he’s earned awards from the likes of the US National Academy of Medicine, and he’s not a destitute grad student anymore.

In the 1840s, the Irish, fleeing famine, arrived destitute, hungry and, as political cartoons of the era show, in droves to the United States.

Prior to the formation of the Continental Army and the decision by the founding states to allow the newly created federal government to raise funds for that army, the early Colonial soldiers were destitute, hungry, and poorly equipped.

From Fortune

From 1929 to 1934, crop yields across Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri plunged by 60%, leaving farmers destitute and exposing the now-barren topsoil to dry winds and soaring temperatures.

When everyone is struggling, how much is to be offered to the more destitute, and how much is to be accepted?

What happened to the Christian concern to “love the least of these,” the most vulnerable, the most destitute?

And by 1918 much of Central and Eastern Europe was starving and destitute.

In critical ways, Russia remains technologically adept, but by its current behavior Russia is also revealed as morally destitute.

From the American Dust Bowl, thousands of destitute farm families stream westward.

When the old couple became bankrupt and died, the old nurse found herself alone and almost destitute in the world.

Louis was benevolent, but destitute of the decision of character requisite to hold the reins of government in so stormy a period.

Now here is a lady, well educated and delicately nurtured, who is destitute of the common necessaries of life.

It must be borne in mind, in this consideration, that the apes differ from the other tree-dwellers in being destitute of claws.

The lower jaws in both were heavy, while the woman was almost destitute of a chin—a marked ape-like characteristic.

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destinydestitution