homeless

adjective

home·​less ˈhōm-ləs How to pronounce homeless (audio)
: having no home or permanent place of residence
homelessness noun

Examples of homeless in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Governor Maura Healey on Wednesday asked state lawmakers to pour $250 million more into the state’s overwhelmed emergency shelter system, sending them the proposal the same day National Guard members began deploying to understaffed hotels and motels housing homeless and migrant families. Samantha J. Gross, BostonGlobe.com, 13 Sep. 2023 The staff, taking him for a homeless person, moved to usher him out. Emily Langer, Washington Post, 12 Sep. 2023 Austin has also invested more than $100 million of the American Rescue Plan Act funds into a variety of homeless services and system improvements. Bradford Betz, Fox News, 12 Sep. 2023 The initial call to the Fire Department described the fire as starting near a homeless encampment in the bed of the Los Angeles River, which backs up to Yaffe’s home. Grace Toohey, Los Angeles Times, 12 Sep. 2023 The agency also has a bus enforcement support team, a canine unit, a homeless outreach officer and a passenger safety team who try to address quality-of-life issues that otherwise would be unreported. Karen Kucher, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Sep. 2023 Hutchinson said that a top concern that came out a survey the coalition did this spring of over 90 people experiencing homeless in Anchorage was about mental health crises occurring in shelters, and contributing to others staying there feeling disrupted or unsafe. Annie Berman, Anchorage Daily News, 7 Sep. 2023 Why are some migrants remaining in homeless shelters for months? Edgar Sandoval, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2023 The nonprofit’s Our Steps to Independence program provides safe shelter, case management and support services to build life skills and help formerly homeless folks become self-sufficient, productive community members. Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Sep. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'homeless.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of homeless was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near homeless

Cite this Entry

“Homeless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/homeless. Accessed 21 Sep. 2023.

Kids Definition

homeless

adjective
home·​less -ləs How to pronounce homeless (audio)
: having no home or permanent residence
homelessness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on homeless

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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