homeless
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
Sensitive Note
There are a number of words used to label people who don’t have permanent housing. While the term homeless was used without controversy for some time, advocates for this population, many style guides, and some people who identify as members of this group now prefer other terms including unhoused, houseless, and unsheltered. The alternative terms to homeless each have a specific nuance of meaning. Unsheltered, for example, includes people who sleep in cars and under overpasses, but not people in temporary housing like city shelters. Houseless and unhoused both mean that a person lacks permanent housing, but may still be a member of a community that they call home, in which case the designation homeless is imprecise. Further, someone’s homeless status is often temporary, as expressed in the phrases “people moving through houselessness,” “people experiencing homelessness,” and “unsheltered people.” Nevertheless, the term homeless is easily understood and even preferred as a term of self-identification by many members of this community. The designation homeless is still widely used and only sometimes offensive or disparaging. However, one should be mindful of the negative connotation this word may have and the many unfortunate associations it has had with poverty, mental illness, substance abuse, or crime. The word should not be used as a euphemism for these other statuses and stigmatized conditions. Homeless should be used only in the strict denotative meaning, and alternative expressions that put the person first, like “an individual experiencing homelessness,” are often preferable.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of homeless
First recorded before 1000; home ( def. ) + -less ( def. )
Explanation
If you're homeless, you don't have any place to live — you might be without a roof over your head, or even without a country to call your own. Refugees living in temporary camps because of civil war are homeless. Homeless refugees aren't really citizens of any land, while other homeless people are in a more temporary bad spot, having lost their homes because of financial trouble, illness, or other bad luck. Sometimes the word homeless is used as a noun for a person in such a predicament, but it's more correct and thoughtful to use the word as an adjective — that way, a homeless person isn't solely defined by not having a home.
Vocabulary lists containing homeless
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.
Vagrant encampments are less sprawling than during the pandemic, but the number of homeless statewide increased by 35% between 2023 and 2025, according to Portland State University.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
With so many Palestinians left homeless, and major shortages of construction materials, many Gaza residents have taken the risk of moving into the shaky buildings.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
L.A.’s homeless authority is under attack from all sides.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
He had become homeless at the end of October and was living in a tent in gardens near St Paul's church in the town centre.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
A number of players, some outcasts or close to homeless but with master-level playing ability, actually lived—on and off—in the house with him.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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.
