indigent

comparative more indigent · superlative most indigent

1. Poor; destitute; in need.

   And were I not a thing for you and me To execrate in anguish, you would be As indigent a stranger to surprise, I fear, as I was once, and as unwise.

   1932, Edwin Arlington Robinson, “Prodigal Son”, in Nicodemus

   4 more examples

   Many of the indigent children are so badly provided for by their parents, with both food and raiment, that they cannot attend school regularly; […]

   1830, Thomas Ritchie, Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia, page 422

   I had since my introduction to the prince been sensitive to the fact that he must think an obviously indigent soldier of fortune will sooner or later open the subject of a subscription to the Greek Cause.

   1974, Guy Davenport, Tatlin!

   Because of this, when my second major health fiasco happened, I had no insurance, so I went to a teaching hospital where they took indigent patients.

   2011, Carla Ulbrich, How Can You Not Laugh at a Time Like This?: Reclaim Your Health With Humor, Creativity, and Grit, Tell Me Press, →ISBN, page 65

   In numerous Supreme Court decisions since Gideon v. Wainwright, the states have been required to provide counsel for indigent defendants at virtually all other stages of the criminal process, beginning with arrest and concluding with the defendant's release from the system.

   2013, Larry J. Siegel, John L. Worral, Essentials of Criminal Justice, Wadsworth, →ISBN, page 162

   Synonyms: almsless, arm, badly off, bankrupt, beggared, beggarly, boracic, broke · Antonyms: affluent

2. archaicUtterly lacking or in need of something specified.

   Will Providence guard us? How do I ſee that our Sex is naturally Indigent of Protection?—I hope it is in Fate to crown our Loves; for 'tis only in the Protection of Men of Honour, that we are naturally truly Safe […]

   1701, Richard Steele, The Funeral: or, Grief A-la-mode, act II, scene 1

   1 more example

   Again some Bodies dissolve both in Fire and Water, as Gums; &c. And these are such, as have both Plenty of Spirit; and their tangible Parts indigent of Moisture: the former promotes the Dilatation of the Spirits by the Fire and the latter stimulates the Parts to receive the Liquor.

   1620, Francis Bacon, Instauratio Magnus, Part III, Section ii, subsection "Liquifaction"

plural indigents

1. A person in need, or in poverty.

   The influx of indigents overwhelmed the city's meagre social services and affordable accommodation.

   2009, Mara Vorhees, Moscow, Lonely Planet, →ISBN, page 29

   2 more examples

   I liked the streets best, so I walked and stared, and slept in a Salvation Army hostel for indigents. But I was no indigent; I was rich in feeling, and that was a luxury I had rarely known.

   1975, Robertson Davies, World of Wonders, Penguin Books, published 1976, →ISBN, page 161

   Then in 2005 a Republican-led Congress passed a bill requiring millions of low-income people to pay higher co-payments and premiums under Medicaid. The result was that many more indigents had to forgo care.

   2011, Michael Parenti, Democracy for the Few, Wadsworth, →ISBN, page 78

   Synonyms: bankrupt, beggar, insolvent, have not, lack-all, Lazarus, pauper, penny-father