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
Sarah N. Lynch, CBS News, 23 Mar. 2026
Last year, Behavioral Health helped about 38,000 individuals, a population of indigent people with severe mental illness that’s roughly as big as the city of Stanton.
—Andre Mouchard, Oc Register, 15 Mar. 2026
Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for indigent
Adjective
The Justice Department has quietly gutted a more than 60-year-old program created to ensure that low-income and indigent immigrants can receive competent and affordable legal representation, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter tell CBS News.
—Sarah N. Lynch, CBS News, 23 Mar. 2026
Last year, Behavioral Health helped about 38,000 individuals, a population of indigent people with severe mental illness that’s roughly as big as the city of Stanton.
—Andre Mouchard, Oc Register, 15 Mar. 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 play’s focus is resolutely on the impoverished rural family of women who fall under this ambitious bluesman’s influence in the rural Georgia of the 1930s, writes Chris Jones.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
13 May 2026
-
This model is much less appealing to the impoverished governments, which sometimes struggle to pay their own troops.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
10 May 2026
Noun
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The Titanic is still a subject of worldwide fascination, in part because of the range of passengers aboard the ship, from paupers to plutocrats.—
Jill Lawless,
Chicago Tribune,
19 Apr. 2026
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The Titanic is still a subject of worldwide fascination, in part because of the range of passengers aboard the ship, from paupers to plutocrats.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
18 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Harper opened a small dance studio, on Forty-sixth Street; business was poor until Bradley was hired and revamped Delroy’s act.—
Brian Seibert,
New Yorker,
13 May 2026
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Still vehicle electronics can be damaged from reverse polarity, poor or wrong connection points or voltage spikes from improper equipment.—
Hartford Courant,
Hartford Courant,
12 May 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 16 May. 2026.
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