indigent

American  

[in-di-juhnt] / ˈɪn dɪ dʒənt /

adjective

1. lacking food, clothing, and other necessities of life because of poverty; needy; poor; impoverished.

   Synonyms:

   distressed, penurious, necessitous

2. Archaic.

   1. deficient in what is requisite.

   2. destitute (usually followed byof ).

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noun

• indigents
  plural

1. a person who is indigent.

indigent British  

/ ˈɪndɪdʒənt /

adjective

1. so poor as to lack even necessities; very needy

2. archaic (usually foll by of) lacking (in) or destitute (of)

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noun

1. an impoverished person

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• indigence
  noun
• indigently
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• indigents
  plural

Etymology

Origin of indigent

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin indigent-, stem of indigēns “needing, lacking,” present participle of indigēre “to need, lack, be poor,” from ind-, variant of in- in- ² ( cf. indagate) + -igēre, combining form of egēre “to need, lack”

Explanation

An indigent person is extremely poor, lacking the basic resources of a normal life. Often the indigent lack not only money but homes. Indigent comes from a Latin word meaning wanting, which we used to use to mean “lacking” and not just to describe desires. Homeless shelters, soup kitchens, free medical clinics and court-appointed lawyers are all institutions that our society has developed to help indigent people.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

indigent indigents

A decade there included three years in juvenile court, where she primarily handled felony cases, and five years at the San Fernando Courthouse, where she represented indigent clients facing felony charges.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Five years ago, Devi, the only daughter in a rural, indigent Sri Lankan family and a principal figure in Randy Boyagoda’s “Lords of Serendipity,” made the finals of a spelling competition.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

Ross, according to his website, has represented more than 10,000 indigent defendants and completed more than 110 jury trials.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026

When the center was founded in 1971, it mainly did legal work for clients who were indigent or had civil-liberties complaints.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026

South African law does not guarantee a defendant the right to legal representation, and thousands upon thousands of indigent men and women went to prison every year for lack of such representation.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

The family also needs to seem trapped not only as impostors but, more crucially, as indigents.

From New York Times ● Jan. 3, 2020

When it becomes apparent, with the approach of evening, that the city cannot house all its indigents, those already in the library decide to stay there overnight.

From The New Yorker ● Apr. 5, 2019

Nothing fancy or pretentious at this humble site, a resting place established for city indigents in the 1870s.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 28, 2019

For 12 years she maintained an appellate practice in California representing indigents on appeal from adverse rulings.

From Slate ● Jun. 21, 2018

People swarming in, cities doubling and trebling in numbers of inhabitants, while the fiscal guardians groan over the increasing weight of improvements and the need to care for a large new spate of indigents.

From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck

Related Words

• destitute
• impoverished
• needy
• penniless
• poverty-stricken