UNPRIVILEGED Synonyms: 51 Similar and Opposite Words

unprivileged

adjective

Definition of unprivileged

as in needy

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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 unprivileged The researchers demonstrate how an unprivileged remote attacker can then recover secrets stored in Gmail, Amazon, and Reddit when the target is authenticated. — Ars Technica, 28 Jan. 2025 Judge David Carter of the District Court for the Central District of California ordered Eastman to begin reviewing at least 1,500 pages per business day starting on Friday, and immediately transfer any unprivileged documents to the committee. — Grace Segers, The New Republic, 28 Jan. 2022 Who is really the fraud, the empty-headed playboy who gets by on connections and unearned income, or the unprivileged striver? — Megan O’Grady, New York Times, 12 Nov. 2020

Recent Examples of Synonyms for unprivileged

Adjective

The gas can always be liquefied and exported around the world to an energy-needy globe.

— Jordan Blum, Fortune, 11 Oct. 2026
The elephants would provide meat for needy rural communities, authorities said Friday in defense of the move.

— Sello Motseta, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of needy

Adjective

In the South, Italians were frequently employed in manual labor alongside Black workers, and in the North, Italian and Black neighborhoods—frequently the most impoverished—often abutted each other.

— Ed Simon, JSTOR Daily, 7 Oct. 2026
The actors will soon slip into their 1967 costumes as the impoverished Greasers and the privileged Socs — and spend the next two hours hating each other onstage.

— Jenelle Riley, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of impoverished

Adjective

Collaboration Education organizes and assigns retired educators as tutors and helps economically disadvantaged parents engage productively with schools.

— Colin Pascal, Baltimore Sun, 8 Oct. 2026
On the other, with the Braves’ rotation already thin, leaning heavily on Sale in the Wild Card Series leaves Atlanta even more disadvantaged against the two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers.

— The Athletic MLB Staff, New York Times, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of disadvantaged

Adjective

Traumatized into silence, the de facto orphan stays living with the kindly but guilt-ridden, grieving and impecunious Hiroshi.

— Jessica Kiang, Variety, 12 June 2026
Since then, it has been performed across much of the world, being ideally suited to these impecunious times and very masterfully written.

— Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 13 Mar. 2026

Definition of impecunious

Adjective

In the summer of 1927 three young men of means ran into a neighbor from back home in Winnetka, Illinois, on the streets of Paris, who was stranded with a penniless delegation of labor leaders and educators intended for Moscow.

— Dan Chiasson, The New York Review of Books, 1 Aug. 2026
Irene has blackmailed the Bohemian royal family, Carrie is a thief who has stolen rare stamps from a penniless woman unaware of their value, and Fanny disguises as a man to gain access to a bank vault.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 24 July 2026

Definition of penniless

Adjective

He gets caught in a rainstorm with the main character, a destitute fourth grader.

— E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
The game, set to be released in January 2027, is set in early 20th century Japan, following a foreigner who claws his way from destitute stranger to feared yakuza to entertainment tycoon.

— Todd Spangler, Variety, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of destitute

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unprintable

unprivileged

unproblematic

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Style

“Unprivileged.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unprivileged. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of unprivileged

adjective

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