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

Three years later, the two actors reunited for an even messier love story, the down-and-out souls of Danny and the Deep Blue Sea. — Kathleen Perricone, Entertainment Weekly, 9 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

Even durable bouclé material won’t save a sofa built on a weak foundation.

— Ryan Brennan, Miami Herald, 22 July 2026
Further, the hinge mechanism provides a bit more assistance, and the magnets are a bit weaker, reducing the force needed to open the phone by half.

— Eric Zeman, PC Magazine, 22 July 2026

Definition of weak

Adjective

In his recent memoir, Newsom describes being divided between his life as the son of an impoverished single mother and the surrogate son of a family with billions in oil industry money.

— Dan Walters, Mercury News, 15 July 2026
This British drama series follows a woman named Emma over the course of more than six decades of her life, from the 1900s through the 1970s, working her way from impoverished maid to the world’s richest woman.

— Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 12 July 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

The condition occurs due to a slow breakdown of the cells in the aorta, which has likely been going on silently for many years before the weakened area of the aortic wall finally gives away and tears.

— Vanessa Etienne, PEOPLE, 13 July 2026
Serratia marcescens can occasionally cause infections in people with weakened immune systems or those who are hospitalized.

— Jessica Safavimehr, Southern Living, 9 July 2026

Definition of weakened

Adjective

Madrid had a poor 2024-25, failing to win the Spanish title or the Champions League, but Mbappe still scored 42 goals in 44 appearances.

— Tim Spiers, New York Times, 21 July 2026
Using Neanderthal cranium shapes to estimate specific brain regions’ volume, some investigators claimed to see signs of a mind with feeble linguistic abilities, poor executive function and an unremarkable memory.

— Cody Cottier, Scientific American, 20 July 2026

Definition of poor

Adjective

Using Neanderthal cranium shapes to estimate specific brain regions’ volume, some investigators claimed to see signs of a mind with feeble linguistic abilities, poor executive function and an unremarkable memory.

— Cody Cottier, Scientific American, 20 July 2026
Lei's team propose that this glitch either strengthened or reoriented, or both, the magnetic field of the Blue Eye Pulsar sufficiently to trigger radio emissions, or at least make feeble radio waves that were already there detectable.

— Keith Cooper, Space.com, 6 July 2026

Definition of feeble

Noun

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
Stock Chart IconStock chart icon Gold not glittering As for gold, while the yellow metal has traditionally been sought out by kings and paupers throughout history alike, the anaemic gold price has puzzled experts.

— Lim Hui Jie,Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 3 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 26 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of down-and-out

adjective

noun

Example Sentences

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