Synonyms of indigent

indigent 1 of 2

adjective

ˈin-di-jənt 

as in impoverished

lacking money or material possessions

because he was indigent, the court appointed a lawyer to represent him

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

indigent

2 of 2

noun

as in pauper

Related Words

• pauper
• have-not
• down-and-out
• hobo
• beggar
• drifter
• mendicant
• vagabond
• tramp
• transient
• panhandler
• waif
• insolvent
• ne'er-do-well
• roamer
• urchin
• ragamuffin
• bankrupt
• almsman
• gamine

Dissimilar Words

• affluent
• plutocrat
• deep pocket
• moneybags
• millionaire
• fat cat
• have
• billionaire
• millionairess
• success
• magnate
• tycoon
• moneymaker
• nabob
• gazillionaire
• billionairess

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of indigent

Adjective

All the clients of the Public Defender’s Office are indigent, Fredericksen-Aguilar said, and most cannot afford any substantial bail. — Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Aug. 2026

My opponent’s work is limited to representing indigent clients in mental health court. — Jacob M. Noble, Sun Sentinel, 16 July 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