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

Declared indigent, he was represented by a series of Broward public defenders until the office asked to be removed from the case, citing a conflict of interest. — Brittany Wallman, Miami Herald, 13 June 2026

The 41-person state agency contracts with private defense attorneys to represent indigent defendants who cannot be represented by the Office of the State Public Defender, typically when public defenders have conflicts of interest. — Shelly Bradbury, Denver Post, 4 June 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