destitute

des·ti·tute

adjective \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

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