as in beggar
a person who lives by public begging
those wretched mendicants on the streets of Calcutta
Synonyms & Similar Words
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as in monastic
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of mendicant
Joanne M. Pierce, The Conversation, 27 May 2025
The abrupt appearance and disappearance of the mendicant pilgrim is part of her power.
—Seyward Darby, Longreads, 5 Apr. 2023
No doubt the traditional tunic and mantle of his mendicant religious order met some standard of austerity when they were adopted in the Middle Ages.
—Nicholas Frankovich, National Review, 2 Jan. 2021
Joanne M. Pierce, The Conversation, 27 May 2025
Augustinians are mendicants, like the Franciscans, Dominicans, and Carmelites.
—Sonari Glinton, Forbes.com, 8 May 2025
In Thank You for Your Servitude, which for my money is the only truly interesting book about the Trump presidency, author Mark Leibovich goes into harrowing detail about how the modern GOP readily turned itself into a gaggle of mendicants to serve Trump on bended knee.
—Jason Linkins, The New Republic, 29 Apr. 2023
But both mendicant and supplicant have a religious connotation.
—Stephen Miller, WSJ, 11 Oct. 2021
The island was a coda of sorts: a place of Christian pilgrimage since the death of a local mendicant, later canonized as St. Cuthbert, in 687.
—Henry Wismayer, Washington Post, 8 Sep. 2021
Noun
The first mendicant orders, like the Franciscans and Dominicans, received papal approval in the early 13th century.
—Joanne M. Pierce, The Conversation, 27 May 2025
The abrupt appearance and disappearance of the mendicant pilgrim is part of her power.
—Seyward Darby, Longreads, 5 Apr. 2023
No doubt the traditional tunic and mantle of his mendicant religious order met some standard of austerity when they were adopted in the Middle Ages.
—Nicholas Frankovich, National Review, 2 Jan. 2021
Adjective
Unlike monks who withdrew from ordinary life, mendicants stressed a life of poverty, spent in travel from town to town to preach and help the poor.
—Joanne M. Pierce, The Conversation, 27 May 2025
Augustinians are mendicants, like the Franciscans, Dominicans, and Carmelites.
—Sonari Glinton, Forbes.com, 8 May 2025
In Thank You for Your Servitude, which for my money is the only truly interesting book about the Trump presidency, author Mark Leibovich goes into harrowing detail about how the modern GOP readily turned itself into a gaggle of mendicants to serve Trump on bended knee.
—Jason Linkins, The New Republic, 29 Apr. 2023
But both mendicant and supplicant have a religious connotation.
—Stephen Miller, WSJ, 11 Oct. 2021
The island was a coda of sorts: a place of Christian pilgrimage since the death of a local mendicant, later canonized as St. Cuthbert, in 687.
—Henry Wismayer, Washington Post, 8 Sep. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mendicant
Noun
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Got a lot of mountains to climb, had to leave some beggars behind.—
Ilana Kaplan,
PEOPLE,
5 Sep. 2025
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Indeed, the beauty of New Orleans proper was found in its colorful variety of humans—the loons and cons, the beggars and peddlers.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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By the 5th century, Armenia had adopted Christianity as its state religion, and monastic winemaking became a cornerstone of its culture and economy.—
Layne Randolph,
Forbes.com,
29 Aug. 2025
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Pitchfork, by contrast, had a near monastic devotion to talking about music as music.—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
29 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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But degraded conventual forces could drive Putin to other means of exerting force.—
Matt Seyler,
ABC News,
10 May 2022
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The Rev. Brad Heckathorne, a Conventual Franciscan friar, performed the ceremony at the chapel at Duke University.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
23 Apr. 2017
Adjective
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How the courts and legislatures balance the rights of the majority and minority in these disputes over the place of the Ten Commandments in public life may go a long way toward shaping the future of religious freedom in American public education.—
Lydia Artz,
The Conversation,
5 Sep. 2025
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Families in Florida can also seek temporary or permanent exemptions for medical or religious reasons.—
Mary Walrath-Holdridge,
USA Today,
5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Her divine costumes throughout the clip mash up sacred imagery with biker style, including a blue hooded top with the sacred heart across the chest, and a whole lot of cross jewelry.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
31 Aug. 2025
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This connection between the fruit and inherent holiness adds new meaning to the Song of Songs, where the love between two people can unknowingly be a divine revelation.—
Demir Alp,
JSTOR Daily,
29 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The Bible And Armenia’s Wine History The winemaking apparatus was found next to what amounts to a cemetery, likely for sacramental or religious purposes.—
Layne Randolph,
Forbes.com,
29 Aug. 2025
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Either way, the installation was not meant to replace sacramental confession.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
15 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mendicant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mendicant. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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