Synonyms of mendicants

mendicants

noun

plural of mendicant

as in beggars

a person who lives by public begging

those wretched mendicants on the streets of Calcutta

Synonyms & Similar Words

• beggars
• panhandlers
• hoboes
• paupers
• bohemians
• waifs
• drifters
• urchins
• parasites
• bums
• vagabonds
• vagrants
• dependents
• tramps
• miserables
• spongers
• derelicts
• sponges
• leeches
• idlers
• hangers-on
• moochers
• guttersnipes
• deadbeats
• clochards
• bludgers
• cadgers
• schnorrers
• ne'er-do-wells

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of mendicants

Throughout much of Buddhist history, and particularly in Theravada Buddhist contexts, mindfulness and its associated meditation methods have been the purview of mendicants (monks and nuns), who used mindfulness meditation to achieve trance states (jhana) leading to nirvana. — Charles Preston, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Apr. 2026

But those states also have Republican governors, who would have raised holy hell if their constituents had been menaced by these roving mobs of mendicants. — Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 28 Nov. 2025