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scatterling

noun

One who has no fixed residence; a vagabond.

Similar

bum stiff casual clochard derelict dero down-and-out down-and-outer

Scrabble 14

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Meanings

nounscatterling (plural scatterlings)

plural scatterlings

obsoleteOne who has no fixed residence; a vagabond.
But ah! her fatal vengeance Struck to my heart. A banished scatterling I wandered on the earth.
1839, Benjamin Disraeli, The Tragedy of Count Alarcos, published 1910, page 388
2 more examples
Long time in peace his realm establishd, / Yet oft annoyd with sundry bordragings / Of neighbour Scots, and forrein scatterlings.
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 63
He is surrounded by the sound, the sound / Cattle in the marketplace / Scatterlings and orphanages
1986, Paul Simon, “You Can Call Me Al”, in Graceland
Synonyms: bum, stiff, casual, clochard, derelict, dero, down-and-out, down-and-outer

Synonyms & antonyms

nounOne who has no fixed residence; a vagabond.

Similar

bum stiff casual clochard derelict dero down-and-out down-and-outer drifter epithite floater gadling hobo Jack out of doors knight of the road landleaper landloper landlouper nomad paker

Also see

Origin

From scatter + -ling.

Full word history & related roots →

Cite this entry

APA

scatterling. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scatterling

MLA

“scatterling.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scatterling. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “scatterling,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scatterling.

Source: scatterling on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.