as in beggar
a person who lives by public begging
those wretched mendicants on the streets of Calcutta
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in monastic
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 mendicant
Joanne M. Pierce, The Conversation, 27 May 2025
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
Joanne M. Pierce, The Conversation, 27 May 2025
Instead of withdrawing from the world in isolated monasteries, members of this order travel as mendicants to aid the poor as well as serve as missionaries and teachers.
—Joanne M. Pierce, The Conversation, 9 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
All these words strike me as vaguely offensive except for mendicant and supplicant.
—Stephen Miller, WSJ, 11 Oct. 2021
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
The fortunes of alphabetical order were further advanced by the growth of mendicant preaching orders.
—Katherine A. Powers, WSJ, 16 Oct. 2020
Noun
In response, a new form of religious life emerged: the mendicant friars.
—Joanne M. Pierce, The Conversation, 27 May 2025
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
Instead of withdrawing from the world in isolated monasteries, members of this order travel as mendicants to aid the poor as well as serve as missionaries and teachers.
—Joanne M. Pierce, The Conversation, 9 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
All these words strike me as vaguely offensive except for mendicant and supplicant.
—Stephen Miller, WSJ, 11 Oct. 2021
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
The fortunes of alphabetical order were further advanced by the growth of mendicant preaching orders.
—Katherine A. Powers, WSJ, 16 Oct. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mendicant
Noun
-
The beggars, widows, and families with sick relatives who once made a pilgrimage to the gates of the parliament building in the Green Zone to beg lawmakers for help are now barred from entry.—
Ned Parker,
Foreign Affairs,
12 Feb. 2012
-
All the beggars at the intersection of Lee Road and the off-ramp of I-4 are completely out of hand.—
Ticked Off,
Orlando Sentinel,
18 July 2024
Adjective
-
Nevertheless, the small band of monastic scribes did manage to preserve and pass on a great deal of ancient literature.—
Bernd Roeck
June 16,
Literary Hub,
16 June 2025
-
The Order of Cistercians was part of the Roman Catholic monastic order founded in 1098.—
Lauren Liebhaber,
Miami Herald,
22 May 2025
Adjective
-
But degraded conventual forces could drive Putin to other means of exerting force.—
Matt Seyler,
ABC News,
10 May 2022
-
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
-
At the end of the day students from a religious order went back to the houses of their communities where professors from the order also lived and dined and prayed with them.—
Belinda Luscombe,
Time,
1 July 2025
-
The Senate parliamentarian spiked the part of the proposal that would exempt religious institutions from the tax, which, Fansmith says, was part of an effort to exempt the very conservative Hillsdale College from the endowment tax.—
Emma Whitford,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2025
Adjective
-
Sevens are the number of spiritual awakening, divine alignment, and completion.—
Dossé-Via Trenou,
Refinery29,
30 June 2025
-
Through this process, the soul becomes more attuned to divine energy, reaching a state of harmony with the higher dimensions.—
Ascend Agency,
Chicago Tribune,
27 June 2025
Adjective
-
The complaint says he’s previously fought for the legal right to use sacramental plant medicines religiously.—
Julia Marnin,
Sacbee.com,
3 June 2025
-
Anand is a neurologist and the author of The Mind Electric, out in June 2025 Within the walls of a hospital, privacy is sacred—the intimate details of someone’s body and illness are meant to be as carefully guarded, as quietly delivered, as a sacramental confession.—
Pria Anand,
TIME,
18 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mendicant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mendicant. Accessed 14 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share