underprivileged

adjective

ˌən-dər-ˈpriv-lijd How to pronounce underprivileged (audio)
Definition of underprivilegednext
as in deprived
kept from having the necessities of life or a healthful environment an organization that distributes free books to underprivileged children

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 underprivileged Jackson would invite hundreds of children to come play at his ranch, particularly ill and underprivileged kids. — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 4 June 2026 To combat this, the MSG family of companies announced Wednesday an initiative through its partner, Garden of Dreams Foundation, to give away 250 free tickets for each of Games 3 and 4 to underprivileged youth throughout New York City. — Devon Henderson, New York Times, 27 May 2026 Escarment launched a foundation in Kyandre's honor that provides bicycles to underprivileged children. — Chelsea Jones, CBS News, 23 May 2026 Escarment launched a foundation that is in Kyandre’s honor and provides bicycles to underprivileged children. — Chelsea Jones, Miami Herald, 23 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for underprivileged
Recent Examples of Synonyms for underprivileged
  1. deprived
  2. disadvantaged
  3. impoverished
  4. poor
  5. depressed
Adjective
  • Compared with the cost of crime, interventions to offset the disadvantages of deprived environments would be cheap.
    — Ronald J. Allen, Chicago Tribune, 19 July 2026
  • As of this spring, sixteen of its newest homes — two four-bedroom houses and eight one-bedroom units in phase one — are home to people who, until recently, were experiencing homelessness in one of the UK's most beautiful and most deprived counties.
    — Afdhel Aziz, Forbes.com, 25 May 2026
Definition of deprived
Adjective
  • It has been claimed by Fury that proceeds from the event will go to charity, specifically the Father Ray Foundation in Pattaya, which provides care and education to disadvantaged and disabled children.
    — Chris McKenna, New York Times, 23 July 2026
  • Others have shown that aggressive policing practices disproportionately affect disadvantaged neighborhoods.
    — Brian Lawton, The Conversation, 22 July 2026
Definition of disadvantaged
Adjective
  • But for those who don’t see the unhoused, impoverished or vulnerable as human, deserving of rights or even life, Heimbach has some advice.
    — Trevor Morgan, Sacbee.com, 24 July 2026
  • Lama finished high school thanks to a government scholarship for impoverished students.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 23 July 2026
Definition of impoverished
Adjective
  • Madrid had a poor 2024-25, failing to win the Spanish title or the Champions League, but Mbappe still scored 42 goals in 44 appearances.
    — Tim Spiers, New York Times, 21 July 2026
  • Using Neanderthal cranium shapes to estimate specific brain regions’ volume, some investigators claimed to see signs of a mind with feeble linguistic abilities, poor executive function and an unremarkable memory.
    — Cody Cottier, Scientific American, 20 July 2026
Definition of poor
Adjective
  • The rest were overseas — many of them belonging to impoverished locals living in conflict zones or economically depressed regions where other employment options are scarce.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 23 July 2026
  • The adviser told me that, even without drastically expanding the budget or upending the financial markets, Burnham could borrow a bit more to finance public-infrastructure investments and channel money to depressed regions.
    — John Cassidy, New Yorker, 20 July 2026
Definition of depressed

Browse Nearby Words

underpricing
underprivileged
underrate
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Underprivileged.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/underprivileged. Accessed 27 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on underprivileged

Nglish: Translation of underprivileged for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of parochial

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

Why does English have so many silent letters?

Every Letter Is Silent, Sometimes: A-Z List of Examples
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 24

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
chain-question-mark
Missing Link Quiz July 2026 Five seconds to figure out the word that fits bot...
See All