indigent

American  

[in-di-juhnt] / ˈɪn dɪ dʒənt /

adjective

1. lacking food, clothing, and other necessities of life because of poverty; needy; poor; impoverished.

   Synonyms:

   distressed, penurious, necessitous

2. Archaic.

   1. deficient in what is requisite.

   2. destitute (usually followed byof ).

---

noun

1. a person who is indigent.

indigent British  

/ ˈɪndɪdʒənt /

adjective

1. so poor as to lack even necessities; very needy

2. archaic (usually foll by of) lacking (in) or destitute (of)

---

noun

1. an impoverished person

Other Word Forms

• indigence
  noun
• indigently
  adverb

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.

Example Sentences

When the center was founded in 1971, it mainly did legal work for clients who were indigent or had civil-liberties complaints.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026

As a young immigration lawyer in California’s Central Valley, Matthew Barragan cut his teeth defending the rights of indigent workers facing deportation.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 30, 2025

What galls her is that “it’s so often the case that a person with a disability has to make themselves indigent in order to qualify for what they need,” Smith said.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 21, 2024

And in North Carolina, the campaign is narrowly focused on promoting Democrats’ successful efforts to expand Medicaid, which will extend nearly-free government health insurance to thousands of people and reduce the indigent population for hospitals.

From Seattle Times • May 19, 2024

Approximately 80 percent of criminal defendants are indigent and thus unable to hire a lawyer.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Related Words

• destitute
• impoverished
• needy
• penniless
• poverty-stricken