Meanings
nounrough sleeper (plural rough sleepers)
plural rough sleepers
- euphemisticidiomaticA homeless person who sleeps outdoors.
In England, meanwhile, government figures show the number of rough sleepers – a small fraction of the total homeless population – climbed from 1,768 in 2010 to 4,677 last year (and since the official count is based on a single evening, charities say the real figure is far higher).
2019 June 3, Jon Henley, “'It’s a miracle': Helsinki's radical solution to homelessness”, in The Guardian
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Translations
Catalan sensesostre
- sensesostre(euphemistic) homeless person
Chinese Mandarin 流浪者
- 流浪者 (liúlàngzhě)(euphemistic) homeless person
Finnish koditon
- koditon(euphemistic) homeless person
French sans-abri
- sans-abri(euphemistic) homeless person
Cite this entry
APA
rough sleeper. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rough%20sleeper
MLA
“rough sleeper.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rough%20sleeper. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rough sleeper,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rough%20sleeper.
Source: rough sleeper on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.