indigence
Americannoun
Usage
What are other ways to say indigence? Indigence refers to a seriously impoverished condition. How is it different from the synonyms poverty and destitution? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Etymology
Origin of indigence
1325–75; Middle English < Latin indigentia need. See indigent, -ence
Explanation
Indigence is a synonym for extreme poverty. If you experience indigence, you have a critical need for food, money, and other resources. To correctly pronounce indigence, accent the first syllable: "IN-dih-genz." It means "great lack of material resources," like money. Indigence a noun, and indigent, an adjective, are related words that have to do with need. If you are indigent — suffering from extreme poverty — you are living in indigence, the state of extreme poverty.
Vocabulary lists containing indigence
Walden
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The Horse and His Boy
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Oliver Twist
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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.
Indigence and dishonour were the evils to shun which thy integrity and peace of mind have been lightly forfeited.
From Arthur Mervyn Or, Memoirs of the Year 1793 by Brown, Charles Brockden
Which speaks the soul awake to every charm That Nature open'd from thy humble cot: Speaks powers chill Indigence could not disarm; Proof to Humanity's severest lot.
From The Farmer's Boy A Rural Poem by Bloomfield, Robert
Indigence and ignorance subject men to oppression in all countries, and under all circumstances, it matters not whether you call them slaves or freemen.
From A Review of Uncle Tom's Cabin or, An Essay on Slavery by Woodward, A.
When the infantine Peasantry ran, And roll'd on the daisy-deck'd Green: Ah! sure 'twas fell Envy's despite, Lest Indigence tasted of Bliss, That sternly decreed they've no right To innocent pleasure like this.
From An Essay on War, in Blank Verse; Honington Green, a Ballad; the Culprit, an Elegy; and Other Poems, on Various Subjects by Bloomfield, Nathaniel
Indigence and indulgence are the two extremes of wretchedness.
From As a Man Thinketh by Allen, James
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.
