as in impoverished
lacking money or material possessions
because he was indigent, the court appointed a lawyer to represent him
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in pauper
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of indigent
Lucas Robinson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Mar. 2026
Laura Owens has also filed for bankruptcy and has been declared indigent for purposes of her criminal defense, according to court records.
—Aidin Vaziri, San Francisco Chronicle, 25 Feb. 2026
Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for indigent
Adjective
As it’s currently set up, San Diego County’s is the most restrictive medically-indigent program among California’s biggest counties.
—Lucas Robinson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Mar. 2026
Laura Owens has also filed for bankruptcy and has been declared indigent for purposes of her criminal defense, according to court records.
—Aidin Vaziri, San Francisco Chronicle, 25 Feb. 2026
Noun
Lower than proletariat workers, the lumpenproletariat includes the indigent and the unemployable, those cast out of the workforce with no recourse, or those who can’t enter it in the first place, such as young workers in times of economic depression.
—Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for indigent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for indigent
Adjective
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The Indian film follows an impoverished elderly couple whose developmentally disabled son has become a source of shame in their village.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
26 Mar. 2026
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The backstory The program began more than 60 years ago and typically provides medical aid to impoverished communities and rural, underserved areas — often in lower-resource countries like Angola, Guatemala and Venezuela but in some high-income countries as well.—
Gabrielle Emanuel,
NPR,
24 Mar. 2026
Noun
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This sudden outburst earns her a pauper’s grave, after she’s hauled out of the restaurant and shoved, accidentally or intentionally, down the stairs.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
5 Mar. 2026
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In fact many of the characters—even Big Gunna, one of the great larger-than-life paupers of Laxness’s oeuvre—did live in Mosfellsdalur and went by the names Laxness gives them in the book.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Serious Medical and Emotional Neglect Turner said Kaiko arrived in poor health, suffering from multiple medical issues and signs of prolonged neglect.—
Alice Gibbs,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Mar. 2026
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The city of Plano scores restaurants on a 100-point system, with 100 considered a perfect score and 70 extremely poor.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
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With fewer homes available for median earners, today's housing market is widening the gap between the haves and have-nots, with younger Americans less likely to buy a home, the study says.—
Mike Winters,
CNBC,
21 Aug. 2025
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Based on the video game from Bethesda Game Studios, Fallout is the story of haves and have-nots in a world in which there’s almost nothing left to have.—
Denise Petski,
Deadline,
18 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Indigent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/indigent. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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