houseless

[hous-lis]

adjective

1. without a house or houses.

   My friend lived on the other side of the houseless plot of land.

2. being unhoused or lacking permanent housing; homeless.

   The church is holding a winter survival equipment drive to provide houseless folks with heavy duty winter coats, blankets, and sleeping bags.

Sensitive Note

See homeless ( def. ).

Other Word Forms

• houselessness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of houseless¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; house + -less ( def. )

Example Sentences

This is how he analyzes the Lansing, Mich., fire department’s indifference after a white mob set fire to Malcolm’s family home in 1929: “Racism is worse in times of tragedy. If you are Black, the agencies designed to help you will ignore you or hurt you. Ask Black residents of New Orleans who survived Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Ask houseless Black people near you. Ask Black people who called the police when their loved one was having a mental health crisis — and the police came and killed them.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“Houseless, never homeless,” Mariano wrote Friday on Instagram, introducing the child to the world with a peek at the newborn with their dog Duke.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"Jordan Neely was murdered," Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive Democrat from New York, wrote on X after his death, adding, "he was houseless and crying for food in a time when the city is raising rents and stripping services".

Read more on BBC

“A lot of people who talk about justice for him … would’ve walked right past him on the street when he was struggling, just as they’re doing to a lot of our houseless community members now.”

Read more on Seattle Times

The message to the campus community “framed our houseless students as a group of people who are feared, clearly intimidating them to get them off campus,” the letter said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• homeless 
• unhoused 
• unsheltered