indigence
Americannoun
Usage
What are other ways to say indigence? Indigence refers to a seriously impoverished condition. How is it different from the synonyms poverty and destitution? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Etymology
Origin of indigence
1325–75; Middle English < Latin indigentia need. See indigent, -ence
Explanation
Indigence is a synonym for extreme poverty. If you experience indigence, you have a critical need for food, money, and other resources. To correctly pronounce indigence, accent the first syllable: "IN-dih-genz." It means "great lack of material resources," like money. Indigence a noun, and indigent, an adjective, are related words that have to do with need. If you are indigent — suffering from extreme poverty — you are living in indigence, the state of extreme poverty.
Vocabulary lists containing indigence
Walden
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The Horse and His Boy
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Oliver Twist
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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.
The challenges of Maloney’s background — familial trauma, poor medical care, occasional indigence — form part of the back story, but they are ultimately beside the point of this book.
From New York Times • Feb. 25, 2022
Oetken said his ruling on Parnas’ indigence was in response to a letter from his lawyer stating he could no longer pay the costs of his defense.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 4, 2021
They “punctured,” he said, Life magazine’s “conception of indigence as an abstract lure to an ideological foe” — Communism.
From Washington Post • Oct. 15, 2019
But once the month is over, broke Diana faces indigence back in England unless she’s rescued from destitution by true love.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 26, 2019
Bobby, perhaps because of the indigence of his childhood, hated the idea of people making money off his name.
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.
