DOWN-AND-OUTER Synonyms: 194 Similar and Opposite Words

down-and-out 1 of 2

adjective

ˈdau̇n-ən(d)-ˈau̇t

Definition of down-and-out

as in weak

lacking bodily strength I'm over the flu, but I still feel down-and-out

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

down-and-out

2 of 2

noun

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. 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

The once down-and-out chipmaker continues to fire on all cylinders under Lip Bu Tan, who has only been CEO for 13 months. — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 24 Apr. 2026 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 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 See All Example Sentences for down-and-out

Recent Examples of Synonyms for down-and-out

Adjective

The Commerce Department released a report Friday showing weak retail sales in July.

— CBS News, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026
Following his coach and uncle Toni’s advice, Nadal finally beat Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2008, breaking Federer’s Open-Era-record five-year winning streak on grass, by playing high balls to Federer’s back hand, his weak point.

— John Hopewell, Variety, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of weak

Adjective

The destination, made up of the wealthy Hightown and the impoverished Lowtown, is often linked to Wolverine, due to his exploits in the area.

— Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 13 Aug. 2026
More recently, a rolling cast of content creators has taken to making day trips to Blackpool’s roughest wards to capitalize on the environs of its impoverished communities.

— George Francis Lee, New Yorker, 12 Aug. 2026

Definition of impoverished

Noun

Historically in Chicago, parent fundraising has been a story of have versus have-not schools, a dynamic threatening to drive deeper inequity in a segregated district.

— Mila Koumpilova, Chicago Tribune, 22 June 2026
Often, football is described as a game of haves and have-nots.

— Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 11 June 2026

Definition of have-not

Adjective

On the other lies a park in one of the Bronx’s poorest communities, built on the site of the former Yankee Stadium after the old home of the Yankees was torn down in 2009 and 2010.

— Sam Blum, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2026
Iran’s economy was in a dire state before the war too, with poor economic conditions a key driving factor behind the anti-regime demonstrations which kicked off in the Iranian capital city Tehran in 2025.

— Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of poor

Adjective

Instead of using a mirror to gather starlight, MOTHRA has many telephoto lenses, like those on a camera, which can capture faintly glowing wisps of gas and other feeble emanations across a wider field of view.

— Mary Randolph, Scientific American, 12 Aug. 2026
By an act of war, committed with the participation of a diplomatic representative of the United States and without authority of Congress, the Government of a feeble but friendly and confiding people has been overthrown.

— Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Aug. 2026

Definition of feeble

Noun

After Blake Street Cemetery stopped accepting new burials in 1931, New Haven began relying on another paupers’ cemetery located on Woodin Street.

— John Moritz, Hartford Courant, 20 July 2026
That honest job has, across four generations, fed prime ministers and paupers, cooked for the King and Queen, and quietly funded a one-man legal aid service for survivors of abuse.

— Afdhel Aziz, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026

Definition of pauper

Browse Nearby Words

down and dirty

down-and-out

down-and-outs

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“Down-and-out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/down-and-out. Accessed 23 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of down-and-out

adjective

noun

Example Sentences

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