destitute

des·ti·tute

adj \ˈdes-tə-ˌtüt, -ˌt(y)üt\

Definition of DESTITUTE

1

: lacking something needed or desirable <a lake destitute of fish>

2

: lacking possessions and resources; especially : suffering extreme poverty <a destitute old man>

— des·ti·tute·ness noun

Examples of DESTITUTE

1. His business failures left him destitute.
2. <many families were left destitute by the horrible fire>

Origin of DESTITUTE

Middle English, from Latin destitutus, past participle of destituere to abandon, deprive, from de- + statuere to set up — more at statute

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to DESTITUTE

Synonyms: beggared, beggarly, broke, poor, dirt-poor, down-and-out, famished, hard up, impecunious, impoverished, indigent, necessitous, needful, needy, pauperized, penniless, penurious, poverty-stricken, skint [chiefly British], threadbare

Antonyms: affluent, deep-pocketed, fat, fat-cat, flush, moneyed (also monied), opulent, rich, silk-stocking, wealthy, well-heeled, well-off, well-to-do

Related Words: deprived, disadvantaged, dispossessed, unaffluent, underprivileged; bankrupt, bankrupted, bust (or busted), insolvent; possessionless, ruined; depressed, distressed, hand-to-mouth, hardscrabble, pinched, poorish, reduced, straitened; cash-strapped, low, short, tapped out

Near Antonyms: comfortable, prosperous

see all synonyms and antonyms

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Other Economics Terms

actuary, compound interest, globalization, indemnity, portfolio, rentier, stagflation, usurer

Rhymes with DESTITUTE

absolute, Aleut, arrowroot, Asyût, attribute, autoroute, bandicoot, bathing suit, birthday suit, bitterroot, bodysuit, boilersuit, bumbershoot, business suit, comminute, constitute, contribute, convolute, disrepute, dissolute, execute, follow suit, gingerroot, hot pursuit, institute, involute, kiwifruit, leisure suit, malamute, overshoot, parachute, passion fruit, persecute, point-and-shoot, prosecute, prostitute, qiviut, resolute, restitute, revolute, run-and-shoot, rural route, subacute, substitute, troubleshoot, undershoot