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.
In June, the Housing and Urban Development Department cut off federal funding for L.A.’s homeless agency, citing fraud and flagrant mismanagement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
The city’s overall homeless population rose 3.4% including those the city puts up in motels.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Truelove was the subject of an in-depth profile in The Times in 2023, capturing his life as a homeless person on the streets of Torrance as he tried to obtain housing, food stamps and healthcare.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
He wanted to give back and later became a teacher himself before creating the Ghetto Kids dance troupe - formed of homeless children and those who could not afford school fees.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
She was going to be released from the hospital, which meant that the Captain would soon be homeless again.
From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson
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.
