Meanings
nounpauper (plural paupers)
plural paupers
- One who is extremely poor.
He has hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank, and he lives like a pauper!
1991, Art Spiegelman, Maus I: My Father Bleeds History, New York: Pantheon Books, page 132 - One living on or eligible for public charity.
verbpauper (third-person singular simple present paupers, present participle paupering, simple past and past participle paupered)
present singular third person paupers · participle present paupering · participle past paupered · past paupered
- transitiveTo make a pauper of; to drive into poverty.
“There’s no sense in you paupering yourself because you’re too stubborn to take my money.” ¶ “I’m not paupering myself.”
2017, Naomi Rawlings, Love's Christmas Hope, →ISBN, page 86
Synonyms & antonyms
Broader
Origin
- Latinpauper“poor”
- Englishpauper
Learned borrowing from Latin pauper (“poor”). Originally a legal term. Doublet of poor.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek πένης
- πένης (pénēs)one who is extremely poor
Arabic فَقِير
- فَقِير (faqīr)one who is extremely poor
Bulgarian бедня́к, сирома́х
- бедня́к (bednják)one who is extremely poor
- сирома́х (siromáh)one who is extremely poor
Chinese Mandarin 窮光蛋 /穷光蛋, 窮鬼 /穷鬼
- 窮光蛋 /穷光蛋 (qióngguāngdàn)one who is extremely poor
- 窮鬼 /穷鬼 (qióngguǐ)one who is extremely poor
Czech chuďas, chudák
- chuďasone who is extremely poor
- chudákone who is extremely poor
Danish fattiglem, fattiglus
- fattiglemone who is extremely poor
- fattiglusone who is extremely poor
Dutch pauper
- pauperone who is extremely poor
Esperanto povrulo, malriĉulo
- povruloone who is extremely poor
- malriĉuloone who is extremely poor
Estonian kerjus
- kerjusone who is extremely poor
Finnish tyhjätasku, keppikerjäläinen
- tyhjätaskuone who is extremely poor
- keppikerjäläinenone who is extremely poor
- rutiköyhäone who is extremely poor
- sosiaaliturvan varassa eläväone living on or eligible for public charity
- sosiaaliturvaan oikeutettuone living on or eligible for public charity
French pauvre, indigent
- pauvreone who is extremely poor
- indigentone who is extremely poor
German Bettelknabe, Armer
- Bettelknabeone who is extremely poor
- Armerone who is extremely poor
- Unterstützungsempfängerone living on or eligible for public charity
Greek πένης, άπορος
- πένης (pénis)one who is extremely poor
- άπορος (áporos)one living on or eligible for public charity
- ζητιάνος (zitiános)one living on or eligible for public charity
Hebrew עני
- עני (aní)one who is extremely poor
Irish bochtán
- bochtánone who is extremely poor
Italian indigente, poveraccio
- indigenteone who is extremely poor
- poveraccioone who is extremely poor
- poveroone who is extremely poor
- nullatenenteone who is extremely poor
- bisognosoone who is extremely poor
- indigenteone living on or eligible for public charity
Japanese 貧民, 貧困者
- 貧民 (hinmin)one who is extremely poor
- 貧困者 (hinkonsha)one who is extremely poor
- 貧者 (hinja)one who is extremely poor
Korean 빈자, 빈민
- 빈자 (binja)one who is extremely poor
- 빈민 (binmin)one who is extremely poor
- 극빈자 (geukbinja)one who is extremely poor
Latin pauper
- pauperone who is extremely poor
Māori pō(w)hara
- pō(w)haraone who is extremely poor
Norwegian Bokmål fattiglem, fattiglus
- fattiglemone who is extremely poor
- fattiglusone who is extremely poor
Persian بدبخت, بینوا
- بدبخت (badbaxt)one who is extremely poor
- بینوا (bi-navâ)one who is extremely poor
- مستحق (mostahaq)one living on or eligible for public charity
- نیازمند (niyâzmand)one living on or eligible for public charity
Polish biedak, nędzarz
- biedakone who is extremely poor
- nędzarzone who is extremely poor
- ubogione who is extremely poor
- żebrakone who is extremely poor
Portuguese indigente
- indigenteone who is extremely poor
Russian ни́щий, бедня́к
- ни́щий (níščij)one who is extremely poor
- бедня́к (bednják)one who is extremely poor
- бе́дный (bédnyj)one who is extremely poor
- неиму́щий (neimúščij)one who is extremely poor
- нужда́ющийся (nuždájuščijsja)one who is extremely poor
Slovak chudák
- chudákone who is extremely poor
Spanish indigente
- indigenteone who is extremely poor
Swahili fukara
- fukaraone who is extremely poor
Swedish fattiglapp, fattighjon
- fattiglappone who is extremely poor
- fattighjonone who is extremely poor
Turkish düşkün, fukara
- düşkünone who is extremely poor
- fukaraone who is extremely poor
Ukrainian бідня́к, бі́дний
- бідня́к (bidnják)one who is extremely poor
- бі́дний (bídnyj)one who is extremely poor
- па́упер (páuper)one who is extremely poor
- па́впер (pávper)one who is extremely poor
- сірома́ха (siromáxa)one who is extremely poor
- сірома́ (siromá)one who is extremely poor
Yiddish אָרעמאַן, אבֿיון
- אָרעמאַן (oreman)one who is extremely poor
- אבֿיון (evyen)one who is extremely poor
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with pauper
All rhymes →Sounds the same
popper (cot–caught merger)popper (cot–caught merger)
Cite this entry
APA
pauper. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pauper
MLA
“pauper.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pauper. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pauper,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pauper.
Source: pauper on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.