1
as in weak
lacking bodily strength
I'm over the flu, but I still feel down-and-out
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in impoverished
lacking money or material possessions
a soup kitchen where the down-and-out daily line up for a hot meal
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
variants
or down-and-outer
as in have-not
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of down-and-out
Jim Nowlan, Chicago Tribune, 5 Mar. 2026
The rotation of capital from sky-high hardware into down-and-out software helped, but so did Salesforce’s better-than-expected earnings report Wednesday evening.
—Morgan Chittum, CNBC, 28 Feb. 2026
Kupferer’s real-life mother, the splendid Tara Mallen, plays her seemingly down-and-out mom in Mouse.
—Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 13 Feb. 2026
The first pictures McCullin took were of hoodlums and down-and-outs, subjects that reflected his own hardscrabble background.
—Andrew Pulver, Air Mail, 31 Jan. 2026
While the aggressively noirish script (by Kubrick and his friend Howard Sackler, who had also written Fear and Desire) about a down-and-out boxer who falls for a gangster’s moll sometimes comes off like a parody, Kubrick is clearly coming into his own here as an artist.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 31 Dec. 2025
Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs — Coming off their first loss since September, the Broncos get a down-and-out Chiefs team playing its third-string quarterback.
—Jim Reineking, USA Today, 25 Dec. 2025
The feature is based on the 2018 documentary of the same name that told the story of a down-and-out fighter who becomes involved with one of the country’s top youth boxing programs.
—Aaron Couch, HollywoodReporter, 25 Nov. 2025
Shroud killed Robert’s dad and now the down-and-out hero is on the warpath.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
The rather down-and-out-looking fellow in front of me was buying a handful of lottery tickets.
—Jim Nowlan, Chicago Tribune, 5 Mar. 2026
The rotation of capital from sky-high hardware into down-and-out software helped, but so did Salesforce’s better-than-expected earnings report Wednesday evening.
—Morgan Chittum, CNBC, 28 Feb. 2026
Kupferer’s real-life mother, the splendid Tara Mallen, plays her seemingly down-and-out mom in Mouse.
—Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 13 Feb. 2026
The first pictures McCullin took were of hoodlums and down-and-outs, subjects that reflected his own hardscrabble background.
—Andrew Pulver, Air Mail, 31 Jan. 2026
While the aggressively noirish script (by Kubrick and his friend Howard Sackler, who had also written Fear and Desire) about a down-and-out boxer who falls for a gangster’s moll sometimes comes off like a parody, Kubrick is clearly coming into his own here as an artist.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 31 Dec. 2025
Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs — Coming off their first loss since September, the Broncos get a down-and-out Chiefs team playing its third-string quarterback.
—Jim Reineking, USA Today, 25 Dec. 2025
The feature is based on the 2018 documentary of the same name that told the story of a down-and-out fighter who becomes involved with one of the country’s top youth boxing programs.
—Aaron Couch, HollywoodReporter, 25 Nov. 2025
Shroud killed Robert’s dad and now the down-and-out hero is on the warpath.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 22 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for down-and-out
Adjective
-
The United States is, to her knowledge, the only country maintaining such a ban for nearly a century via Section 307 of the 1930 Tariff Act—even in its weaker form with the domestic consumption loophole.—
Jasmin Malik Chua,
Sourcing Journal,
13 Mar. 2026
-
Lessons from gold and small-caps The recent spike in oil prices has not resulted in spectacular gains for gold investors fueled by a weaker dollar, as was the case in 1973.—
Joseph Wilkins,
CNBC,
13 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Salt was another luxury for the impoverished migrants.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Mar. 2026
-
Cinema-going culture has struggled to take hold in much of South Africa, particularly in townships and other impoverished communities, prompting the organizers to focus on building that culture in the next generation of South African moviegoers and filmmakers.—
Christopher Vourlias,
Variety,
2 Mar. 2026
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
-
That would leave a weakened but embittered regime possibly more determined than ever to make a nuclear bomb – and still with the material and much of the knowledge and equipment needed to do so.—
Matthew Bunn,
The Conversation,
17 Mar. 2026
-
Despite withering airstrikes, officials see a weakened but more hard-line government in Tehran, backed by the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps security forces.—
Ellen Nakashima,
Washington Post,
16 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
While youth suicide remains a leading cause of death, the youth suicide rate is down in Colorado, and the number of kids reporting poor mental health also dropped from 23% in 2023 to 14% in 2025.—
Shaun Boyd,
CBS News,
17 Mar. 2026
-
The launch came amid overcast skies and a weather forecast that was reduced to just a 75% chance for good conditions, according to Space Launch Delta 45’s weather squadron, which also noted a moderate risk for poor conditions at the booster landing site.—
Richard Tribou,
The Orlando Sentinel,
17 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
Adjective
-
Congress has for the most part registered only feeble and ineffective opposition to such executive action.—
Sarah Burns,
The Conversation,
4 Mar. 2026
-
Scratches above the dead body reach upward, marks that read as feeble attempts to cling to some semblance of life.—
Anel Rakhimzhanova,
Artforum,
1 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
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
-
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
Cite this Entry
“Down-and-out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/down-and-out. Accessed 19 Mar. 2026.
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