Synonyms of indigent

indigent 1 of 2

adjective

ˈin-di-jənt 

as in impoverished

lacking money or material possessions

because he was indigent, the court appointed a lawyer to represent him

Synonyms & Similar Words

• impoverished
• poor
• needy
• destitute
• broke
• penniless
• impecunious
• beggared
• bankrupt
• deprived
• poverty-stricken
• penurious
• pauperized
• down-and-out
• dirt-poor
• needful
• necessitous
• famished
• beggarly
• depressed
• bankrupted
• out of pocket
• underprivileged
• out at elbows
• threadbare
• disadvantaged
• skint
• hard up
• dispossessed
• distressed
• insolvent
• down on one's luck
• unaffluent
• ruined
• hardscrabble
• poorish
• reduced
• straitened
• bust
• cash-strapped
• hand-to-mouth
• possessionless
• pinched
• short
• tapped out
• low

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• wealthy
• affluent
• rich
• well-to-do
• moneyed
• opulent
• fat
• flush
• well-off
• prosperous
• well-heeled
• silk-stocking
• fat-cat
• comfortable
• deep-pocketed

indigent

2 of 2

noun

as in pauper

Related Words

• pauper
• have-not
• down-and-out
• hobo
• beggar
• drifter
• mendicant
• vagabond
• tramp
• transient
• panhandler
• waif
• insolvent
• ne'er-do-well
• roamer
• urchin
• ragamuffin
• bankrupt
• almsman
• gamine

Dissimilar Words

• affluent
• plutocrat
• deep pocket
• moneybags
• millionaire
• fat cat
• have
• billionaire
• millionairess
• success
• magnate
• tycoon
• moneymaker
• nabob
• gazillionaire
• billionairess

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of indigent

Adjective

An indigent defense commission in Michigan, which was formed by the legislature in 2013, has led to significant reforms and a substantial influx in state funding. — Anat Rubin, Los Angeles Times, 21 June 2026

California’s Welfare and Institutions Code (Section 17000) requires the counties to provide indigent medical care/meet the healthcare needs of the county. — Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 June 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