vagrant

American  

[vey-gruhnt] / ˈveɪ grənt /

noun

1. a person who wanders about idly and has no permanent home or employment; vagabond; tramp.

2. Law. an idle person without visible means of support, as a tramp or beggar.

3. a person who wanders from place to place; wanderer; rover.

4. wandering idly without a permanent home or employment; living in vagabondage.

   vagrant beggars.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of a vagrant.

   the vagrant life.

2. wandering or roaming from place to place; nomadic.

3. (of plants) straggling in growth.

4. not fixed or settled, especially in course; moving hither and thither.

   a vagrant leaf blown by the wind.

vagrant British  

/ ˈveɪɡrənt /

noun

1. a person of no settled abode, income, or job; tramp

2. a migratory animal that is off course

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adjective

1. wandering about; nomadic

2. of, relating to, or characteristic of a vagrant or vagabond

3. moving in an erratic fashion, without aim or purpose; wayward

4. (of plants) showing uncontrolled or straggling growth

Related Words

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

• nonvagrant adjective
• nonvagrantly adverb
• nonvagrantness noun
• unvagrant adjective
• unvagrantly adverb
• unvagrantness noun
• vagrantly adverb
• vagrantness noun

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- ( 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.

Example Sentences

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 plays Tom T. Shiftlet, a one-armed vagrant who talks a woman into taking him on as her handyman, then marries her mute, deaf daughter, Lucynell.

From New York Times • May 11, 2024

He’s a vagrant by definition — a man with no job, no paper trail or online presence.

From Salon • Jan. 20, 2024

“Where once it owned the continent, it’s now a kind of vagrant, occupying the botanical equivalent of homeless encampments.”

From Seattle Times • Nov. 8, 2023

He poked about with a bit of stick, that itself was wave-worn and whitened and a vagrant, and tried to control the motions of the scavengers.

From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding

Related Words

• itinerant
• nomadic
• peripatetic
• roving
• wandering
• wayfaring