pauper
Americannoun
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paupers
plural
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a person without any means of support, especially a destitute person who depends on aid from public welfare funds or charity.
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a very poor person.
noun
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a person who is extremely poor
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(formerly) a destitute person supported by public charity
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of pauper
1485–95; < Latin: poor
Explanation
Pauper is an old-fashioned word for someone who is poor — really poor, like the paupers described by Charles Dickens or Mark Twain. The noun pauper has been around for over 500 years, but today, the word tends to mostly crop up in literature. If people use it in conversation, they tend to use the word self-deprecatingly. "I'm sorry, I can't afford to go with you to the movies. I'm living like a pauper this week, until I get paid."
Vocabulary lists containing pauper
"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 1–7
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"A Rose for Emily"
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Broke-abulary: Synonyms for "Poor"
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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.
See Examples For:
However, this nomad only looked like a pauper.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026
For most of human history, identity was ascribed at birth: pauper, peasant, preacher, princess.
From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2024
"The consequences of this ruling and the upcoming trial, while not making him a pauper, will significantly reduce his net worth."
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2023
De León noted that when Villaraigosa beat incumbent Hahn in 2005, Hahn was a pauper compared with Caruso.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2022
“If a single one of you comes onto the pauper rolls, where do you think the money to keep you will come from? It will come from the people of Phippsburg.”
From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt
The sport of kings to some, the sport of paupers for most.
From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2025
"The RFU keep trumpeting community rugby as the lifeblood of the game, while at the same time seemingly treating them like paupers."
From BBC ● Jan. 9, 2025
The Senate is in no great shape either, following a controversial decision to let senators dress like common paupers and Dickensian street urchins.
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2023
Monica, Danny and James are toiling in the shadow of the entertainment industry — relative paupers who can’t help wondering if they’ll ever be invited to the nearby banquet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 14, 2022
The city almshouse on Spruce Street was jammed with over three hundred paupers, while private institutions, such as the Friends’ Alms House, were also filled to capacity.
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
