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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of mendicant
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
Francis is the first pope to name himself after the mendicant friar, who renounced a wealthy, dissolute lifestyle to embrace a life of poverty and service to the poor.
—CBS News, 5 Oct. 2020
Created in 2012 by the Dominicans, a Catholic mendicant order, Optic has the goal of ensuring that emerging technologies respect human dignity.
—Rebecca Heilweil, Fortune, 24 Nov. 2019
The convent houses the nearly 800-year-old tomb of Saint Francis, the most poetic of holy men, who thought money was worth less than asses’ dung and inspired a mendicant order.
—The Economist, 7 Sep. 2019
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
Noun
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
Francis is the first pope to name himself after the mendicant friar, who renounced a wealthy, dissolute lifestyle to embrace a life of poverty and service to the poor.
—CBS News, 5 Oct. 2020
Created in 2012 by the Dominicans, a Catholic mendicant order, Optic has the goal of ensuring that emerging technologies respect human dignity.
—Rebecca Heilweil, Fortune, 24 Nov. 2019
The convent houses the nearly 800-year-old tomb of Saint Francis, the most poetic of holy men, who thought money was worth less than asses’ dung and inspired a mendicant order.
—The Economist, 7 Sep. 2019
Adjective
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
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
-
The Handmaids — who live nutritionally balanced, conception-promoting lives of monastic deprivation — have not eaten their slices of wedding cake.—
Amanda Whiting,
Vulture,
13 May 2025
-
In recognition of the power of acoustics, Aurelio Montes has constructed his cellar in a semi circle to maximise the harmony imparted by these monastic tones.—
Paul Caputo,
Forbes.com,
30 Apr. 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
-
For two and a half centuries, religious freedom has driven America's story.—
Kevin Sabet,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 May 2025
-
This lighting might have emphasized the space’s religious purpose.—
Sonja Anderson,
Smithsonian Magazine,
14 May 2025
Adjective
-
Maybe the Cubs, perennially in need of divine intervention, will now have a new pal in a high place.—
Chicago Tribune,
Twin Cities,
11 May 2025
-
The Knicks overcame 20-point deficits in Games 1 and 2, a feat some might see as divine intervention.—
C.J. Holmes,
New York Daily News,
9 May 2025
Adjective
-
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
-
After the surgeon general’s warning on alcohol, people of faith should rethink sacramental wine, writes guest columnist Eli Federman.—
Ryan Fonseca,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mendicant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mendicant. Accessed 21 May. 2025.
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