pauper
Americannoun
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a person without any means of support, especially a destitute person who depends on aid from public welfare funds or charity.
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a very poor person.
noun
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a person who is extremely poor
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(formerly) a destitute person supported by public charity
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pauper
1485–95; < Latin: poor
Explanation
Pauper is an old-fashioned word for someone who is poor — really poor, like the paupers described by Charles Dickens or Mark Twain. The noun pauper has been around for over 500 years, but today, the word tends to mostly crop up in literature. If people use it in conversation, they tend to use the word self-deprecatingly. "I'm sorry, I can't afford to go with you to the movies. I'm living like a pauper this week, until I get paid."
Vocabulary lists containing pauper
"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 1–7
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"A Rose for Emily"
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Broke-abulary: Synonyms for "Poor"
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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.
His parents started a book publishing company, Peter Pauper Press.
From Washington Post • Mar. 7, 2017
“Bill: Thank you for the transfer of Ruth Saltz at the Pauper Cemetery,” wrote P. Fernandez in 2012.
From Washington Times • Sep. 3, 2016
Whether they’re crass or poignant, these are ultimately stories about empathy, supernatural successors to Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper.
From The Verge • Jul. 19, 2015
The Prince and the Pauper Family-friendly adaptation of the Mark Twain fable.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 19, 2015
I didn’t like Ivanhoe, hated The Prince and the Pauper, tolerated the poems, and loved Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.
From "Bad Boy" by Walter Dean Myers
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.
