down-and-out 1 of 2

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down-and-out

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noun

variants or down-and-outer

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of down-and-out
Adjective
Often considered the most scathing film ever made about the movie industry, The Day of the Locust is an adaptation of Nathanael West’s celebrated novel about a down-and-out artist turned set painter and the Los Angeles demimonde during the Great Depression. Erik Morse, Vogue, 23 Oct. 2025 Shroud killed Robert’s dad and now the down-and-out hero is on the warpath. Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 22 Oct. 2025 And those Berger hallmarks are certainly on display in the new one, a drama about a dandy named Lord Doyle, a down-and-out con man and gambling addict on the brink of a breakdown in the kitschy gaming hub of Macau. Glenn Whipp, Boston Herald, 17 Oct. 2025 Gabriel pulls a few mystical strings so down-and-out Arj can switch places with Jeff for two weeks: the plan is that Arj will realize money can’t buy happiness and will volunteer to go back to his own life. Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 17 Oct. 2025 Fraser stars as a down-and-out American actor adrift in Tokyo in Rental Family, which was filmed in Japan. Liz Shackleton, Deadline, 18 Sep. 2025 Gardin showed us a country where the medieval and the modern, the down-and-out and la dolce vita, seemed to coexist. Max Norman, New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2025 Under the deal, Westbrook has set up projects at the studio, including Sugar Bandits, based on the book Devils in Exile by Chuck Hogan that follows a down-and-out Iraqi war veteran who intercepts drug deals for profit. Mia Galuppo, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2025 Befitting the down-and-out semis, Analog Devices put up good numbers, causing a headlong rush into internet of things (IoT). Jim Cramer, CNBC, 24 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for down-and-out
Adjective
  • Western countries could exploit weak points in supply chains for many of Russia's advanced fighter jets, including by tightening up sanctions as Ukraine strikes Russia's industrial facilities, according to a new report.
    Ellie Cook, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Nov. 2025
  • Respiratory difficulty, constipation, poor feeding, drooping eyelids and a weak and altered cry are among the symptoms of infant botulism.
    Chad Murphy, Cincinnati Enquirer, 10 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • All the struggling, impoverished Californians who wish their lives were better?
    U T Editorial Board, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Nov. 2025
  • The flood of people overwhelmed Bajo Chiquito, an impoverished community of 382 members of the Indigenous Emberá-Wounaan people.
    Daniel Gonzalez, AZCentral.com, 5 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • 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
  • 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
Adjective
  • The illness can be dangerous or life-threatening, particularly to older adults, those with weakened immune systems and pregnant women.
    Fernando Cervantes Jr, USA Today, 7 Nov. 2025
  • But babies, people with weakened immune systems, and those with chronic lung conditions are more likely to get seriously sick, developing illnesses like bronchiolitis or pneumonia.
    Evan Moore November 5, Charlotte Observer, 5 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • The Ministry of Environment blamed this year’s surge on a poor acorn harvest – which drove a similar spate of attacks in 2023.
    Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 7 Nov. 2025
  • Rather, the slow start (by Ovechkin’s standards) to this season seemed due more to poor puck luck.
    Sean Gentille, New York Times, 6 Nov. 2025
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
Adjective
  • And honestly, what could be more feeble?
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 7 Nov. 2025
  • Their calculations show that a feeble interaction between the inflaton field and elementary particles called gluons would be sufficient to warm up inflation.
    Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 27 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Brian Niccol, the coffee chain boss, is paid a pauper’s sum of nearly $100 million.
    Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 6 Nov. 2025
  • In it, novice nun Viridiana (Silvia Pinal) does her utmost to maintain her Catholic principles, but her lecherous uncle (Fernando Rey) and a motley assemblage of paupers force her to confront the limits of her idealism.
    Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 5 Nov. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Down-and-out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/down-and-out. Accessed 16 Nov. 2025.

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