vagrant
Americannoun
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a person who wanders about idly and has no permanent home or employment; vagabond; tramp.
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Law. an idle person without visible means of support, as a tramp or beggar.
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a person who wanders from place to place; wanderer; rover.
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wandering idly without a permanent home or employment; living in vagabondage.
vagrant beggars.
adjective
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of, relating to, or characteristic of a vagrant.
the vagrant life.
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wandering or roaming from place to place; nomadic.
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(of plants) straggling in growth.
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not fixed or settled, especially in course; moving hither and thither.
a vagrant leaf blown by the wind.
noun
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a person of no settled abode, income, or job; tramp
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a migratory animal that is off course
adjective
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wandering about; nomadic
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of, relating to, or characteristic of a vagrant or vagabond
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moving in an erratic fashion, without aim or purpose; wayward
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(of plants) showing uncontrolled or straggling growth
Synonym Usage
Vagrant, vagabond describe an idle, disreputable person who lacks a fixed abode. Vagrant suggests a tramp, a person with no settled abode or livelihood, an idle and disorderly person: picked up by police as a vagrant. Vagabond especially emphasizes the idea of worthless living, often by trickery, thieving, or other disreputable means: Actors were once classed with rogues and vagabonds.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonvagrantnessnoun
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unvagrantnessnoun
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vagrantnessnoun
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nonvagrantadjective
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unvagrantadjective
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nonvagrantlyadverb
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unvagrantlyadverb
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vagrantlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of vagrant
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English vagaraunt, apparently present participle of unattested Anglo-French vagrer, perhaps from unattested Middle English vagren, blend of vagen (from Latin vagārī “to wander”) and unattested walcren (becoming Old French wa(u)crer ), equivalent to walc- ( see walk) + -r- frequentative suffix + -en infinitive suffix
Explanation
A vagrant is someone who is homeless and poor and may wander from place to place. In fiction a vagrant often is a criminal, but a real-life vagrant might just be a person who has lost a job and family and lives off the streets with help from charity. Many synonyms for vagrant imply laziness and criminal behavior, such as "bum," "tramp," and "vagabond," and some vagrants do make money through crime. Often, though, a vagrant is a down-on-his-luck person who has lost work, family, or health and lives on the streets. European roots for vagrant point to "wander" or "wander about," and a vagrant is a wanderer — a man or woman without a place to call home.
Vocabulary lists containing vagrant
Lord of the Flies
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The Lightning Thief
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Just Mercy
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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:
He eventually moved toward sweeps of vagrant encampments “after our scholars had publicly argued for them.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
He served four years, but on his release he had no family, friends or place to live, so he became a vagrant.
From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2025
He’s a vagrant by definition — a man with no job, no paper trail or online presence.
From Salon ● Jan. 20, 2024
Australia, for example, logged a total of 329 vagrant birds over a 60-year period, from 1940 to 2000, Dr. Davis noted in a 2018 paper.
From New York Times ● Apr. 7, 2022
“Jane McKeene, stop loitering in the doorway like a vagrant and come in.”
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
Mr. Pratt has recorded cute social-media videos with dogs, promising to overhaul the city’s dysfunctional shelter system and to require vagrants to get treatment for mental health illnesses and addictions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 24, 2026
"Romanians go to other countries for work, but we have so many resources here. Wood, grain - and our soil is very rich. Why should we be vagrants in Italy?"
From BBC ● Dec. 10, 2024
The fish and wildlife agency said officers responded to reports of a man eating the protected species on the island, which is undeveloped and frequented by vagrants.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 22, 2023
Ceruti was tagged “Pitocchetto” — the little beggar — given his fondness for pictures of maidservants, peasant families and vagrants in tattered rags.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2023
He complained endlessly about a vacant newsstand near his building, which was used by vagrants as a trash bin and stank of urine.
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
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.
