destitute

[ des-ti-toot, -tyoot ]

/ ˈdɛs tɪˌtut, -ˌtyut /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR destitute ON THESAURUS.COM

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

desterro, destination, destine, destined, destiny, destitute, destitution, destock, destool, destrier, destroy

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.

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ANTONYMS FOR destitute

1 affluent.

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Related forms

des·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 Forms

destituteness, 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