Synonyms of destitute

destitute

adjective

ˈde-stə-ˌtüt 

1

as in impoverished

lacking money or material possessions

many families were left destitute by the horrible fire

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

2

as in devoid

utterly lacking in something needed, wanted, or expected

a lingering drought and a sky destitute of rain clouds

Synonyms & Similar Words

• devoid
• bankrupt
• void
• barren
• bereft
• empty
• bare
• insufficient
• incomplete
• deficient
• wanting
• fragmentary
• blank
• vacant
• absent
• partial
• innocent
• stark
• short
• fragmental
• missing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• full
• filled
• fraught
• replete
• provided
• rife
• flush
• furnished
• supplied
• crowded
• bursting
• saturated
• stuffed
• fat
• packed
• brimming
• chock-full
• loaded
• jammed
• crammed
• bulging
• thick
• teeming
• swarming
• abounding
• jam-packed
• thronging

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of destitute

Foster died destitute in 1864, after falling and injuring himself in the bathroom of a hotel on the Bowery, becoming perhaps the first of many famous wastrels in American popular music. — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 2 July 2026

Early state laws offered limited divorce grounds, often leaving women destitute. — Patricia Fersch, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026

The now-tony West London locale was considered a destitute enclave for artists and bohemians at the time, and Hockney's flat epitomized this lifestyle. — Annabelle Dufraigne, Architectural Digest, 12 June 2026

In 2022, after the war ended, Tigray was destitute. — Claire Wilmot & Gisa Tunbridge, The Dial, 12 June 2026

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