as in impoverished
lacking money or material possessions
because he was indigent, the court appointed a lawyer to represent him
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in pauper
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of indigent
Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2025
Ray Long, Chicago Tribune, 3 Sep. 2025
Unless the debtor is clearly indigent, most litigators will not spend a second considering if the judgment is collectable, much less hiring a private investigator first to determine if this is so.
—Jay Adkisson, Forbes.com, 23 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for indigent
Adjective
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
Noun
Fifteen years ago, Mexican attorney Alma Barraza immersed herself in a legal fight to win fair compensation for indigent villagers who lost their property when the government seized land to build a dam.
—Ray Long, Chicago Tribune, 3 Sep. 2025
Unless the debtor is clearly indigent, most litigators will not spend a second considering if the judgment is collectable, much less hiring a private investigator first to determine if this is so.
—Jay Adkisson, Forbes.com, 23 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for indigent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for indigent
Adjective
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The United Nations predicts the cost of reconstruction in the impoverished territory is a staggering $70 billion.—
NPR,
NPR,
16 Oct. 2025
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Set within the League of Legends universe, the Netflix series follows sisters Vi (Hailee Steinfeld) and Jinx (Ella Purnell), who find themselves on opposite sides of a brewing war between the impoverished undercity of Zaun and the futuristic, wealthy city of Piltover.—
Abby Monteil,
Them.,
15 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Instead, town officials buried him in a pauper’s grave.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 Oct. 2025
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The woman was killed by one of Iblis’ masters, a pauper who dreamed of infinite wealth and attention.—
Kayti Burt,
Time,
3 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Porter has been a lead creator before, but that was on cellar-dwelling Houston Rockets squads that became a breeding ground for poor habits.—
Fred Katz,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
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Young people want better governance and are fed up with suffering from poor services and economies while their leaders get rich around them and inequality grows.—
Elizabeth Shackelford,
Twin Cities,
16 Oct. 2025
Noun
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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
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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
Cite this Entry
“Indigent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/indigent. Accessed 22 Oct. 2025.
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