destitute

[ des-ti-toot, -tyoot ]

/ ˈdɛs tɪˌtut, -ˌtyut /

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adjective

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

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

verb (used with object), des·ti·tut·ed, des·ti·tut·ing.

to leave destitute.

Nearby words

Origin of destitute

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; see statute) + -ū- thematic vowel + -tus past participle suffix

SYNONYMS FOR destitute

1. needy, poor, indigent, necessitous, penniless, impoverished. 2. deficient.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR destitute ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR destitute

1. affluent.

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Related formsdes·ti·tute·ly, adverbdes·ti·tute·ness, nounpre·des·ti·tute, adjectiveun·des·ti·tute, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for destitute

What happened to the Christian concern to “love the least of these,” the most vulnerable, the most destitute?
Dear Evangelicals: You’re Being Had|Jay Michaelson|November 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And by 1918 much of Central and Eastern Europe was starving and destitute.
How WWI Produced the Holocaust|J.P. O’Malley|November 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
From the American Dust Bowl, thousands of destitute farm families stream westward.
Adam Hochschild on Keeping Company With His Dying Father|Adam Hochschild|June 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Six months later, she was in love, pregnant, and, as her furious parents cut her off, destitute.
It’s Complicated For Cutie & the Boxer|Melissa Leon|February 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Nation building in a country as destitute and decentralized as Afghanistan, he argued, was hopeless.
How Biden’s Win on Afghanistan Policy Has Shaped Obama’s Arab Approach|Peter Beinart|August 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Thousands of the most beautiful women are destitute of common sense and common humanity.
Aims and Aids for Girls and Young Women|George Sumner Weaver
Why would your God people a world, knowing that it would be destitute of benevolence for four thousand years?
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 6 (of 12)|Robert G. Ingersoll
A family of destitute children, the eldest not yet sixteen, the youngest a dumb girl.
Nobody's Boy|Hector Malot
Such an objection, therefore, as has been now stated, is evidently not destitute of strength.
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 15 (of 18)|Robert Kerr
The country is barren deserts, destitute of grass, and covered with wild sage.
Journal of a Trip to California by the Overland Route Across the Plains in 1850-51|E. S. (Eleazer Stillman) Ingalls

British Dictionary definitions for destitute

destitute

/ (ˈdɛstɪˌtjuːt) /

adjective

lacking the means of subsistence; totally impoverished

(postpositive foll by of) completely lacking; deprived or bereft (of)destitute of words

obsolete abandoned or deserted

Derived Formsdestituteness, noun

Word Origin for destitute

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for destitute

destitute

adj.

late 14c., "abandoned, forsaken," from Latin destitutus "abandoned," past participle of destituere "forsake," from de- "away" + statuere "put, place," causative of stare "to stand," from PIE root *sta- "to stand" (see stet). Originally literal; sense of "lacking resources, impoverished" is 1530s.

destitute

adjective

verb (used with object), des·ti·tut·ed, des·ti·tut·ing.

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Origin of destitute

Examples from the Web for destitute

destitute

adjective

Word Origin for destitute

destitute