vagrant 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of vagrantnext
as in nomadic
traveling from place to place bands of vagrant children in the streets of the impoverished city

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

vagrant

2 of 2

noun

ˈvā-grənt How to pronounce vagrant (audio)
1
as in beggar
a homeless wanderer who may beg or steal for a living vagrants sleeping in cardboard boxes on the sidewalk

Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in bum
an idle worthless person the vagrants who are a familiar sight at the city's bus terminal

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 vagrant
Adjective
Because of its rare appearance in the Northern Hemisphere, many birders are flocking to catch a glimpse of the vagrant gull. — Elizabeth Gamillo, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 July 2025 The vagrant bird could have wandered off course in search of other members of its species or it may have been displaced by extreme weather, ornithology experts told the outlet. — Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 2 Jan. 2025
Noun
Beggars and vagrants were a common sight. — Literary Hub, 9 Dec. 2025 Indeed, a study of early 19th-century court records found that in Philadelphia, nearly half of those convicted as vagrants were African American — a figure wildly disproportionate to the city’s minority Black population. — Equal Justice Initiative, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025 See All Example Sentences for vagrant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vagrant
  1. nomadic
  2. beggar
  3. bum
  4. nomad
  5. hobo
  6. tramp
  7. vagabond
  8. transient
Adjective
  • Paparazzi photos that first emerged in April shone a spotlight on a breed developed by the nomadic Samoyed people of Siberia.
    — Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 15 July 2026
  • But the nomadic lifestyle of an artist like Alex was deeply familiar to Pascal, who shot to stardom with HBO’s The Last of Us.
    — Savannah Walsh, Vanity Fair, 13 July 2026
Definition of nomadic
Noun
  • Gobert was chief among the beggars imploring his teammates for a shred of consistency on that end of the floor.
    — Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 27 Apr. 2026
  • So disguised as a beggar, Odysseus shows up at his palace, and he is not treated very nicely by the suitors who have camped out in his house.
    — Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune, 9 Mar. 2026
Definition of beggar
Noun
  • The Coliseum stayed in business for 500 years, bums in seats twice a week, watching people hack each other to death.
    — David Frum, The Atlantic, 8 July 2026
  • Sometimes there is a fine line between being a hero or a bum, but Dave has been able to negotiate that line, because players trust him, and the players know that Dave cares about them and their families.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 4 July 2026
Definition of bum
Adjective
  • Dinners take place in traditional nomad tents around the communal fire pit, and range from steaming hot pots with yak meat, mushrooms and tofu to haute-Tibetan tasting menus with wild vegetables in corn foam, tsampa grissini, and lamb shoulder with yak yogurt glaze and salsa verde.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 25 Apr. 2026
  • New this season are nomad-style cooking workshops, starlit movies for younger campers, and sunrise hawk walks.
    — Katharina Kotrba, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
Definition of nomad
Noun
  • Per usual with movies like this, spelling out the terror (the roots are in hobo codes and religious legend) becomes, regrettably, a shock absorber, not a facilitator.
    — Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 22 May 2026
  • Schneider plays David, a reticent young man with the soulful-hobo air of a Beat poet, who makes a living as an events photographer but whose private passion is a secretive lifelong project, inherited from his father, documenting the changing Parisian suburbs.
    — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 18 May 2026
Definition of hobo
Noun
  • Plus, the police are looking for a tramp (David Wilmot) who lives in the forest nearby, and may know something about what happened to her.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 30 Apr. 2026
  • More than half a century into his imposingly prolific, restlessly searching career as a songwriter, Springsteen has fulfilled the prophecy he was born into as a young tramp.
    — New York Times, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2026
Definition of tramp
Noun
  • His divorces ultimately left him scrambling for stability and turned him into a kind of moneyed vagabond, living out of suitcases.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 22 May 2026
  • Decades before his lens moved between nocturnal vagabonds in the East Village and names such as Diana Vreeland, William Burroughs, and Fran Lebowitz, the young man realized the power of his eye.
    — Osman Can Yerebakan, Air Mail, 2 May 2026
Definition of vagabond
Noun
  • Swift was originally designed to study a rare type of transient called gamma-ray bursts—seconds-long flashes of gamma-ray light that arise from the most energetic explosions in the universe.
    — Anna Y. Q. Ho, Scientific American, 29 June 2026
  • The Alameda County Coroner’s Bureau is still trying to identify the man, believed to be a transient, authorities said.
    — Harry Harris, Mercury News, 17 June 2026
Definition of transient

Browse Nearby Words

vagrancy
vagrant
vagrants
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Cite this Entry

“Vagrant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vagrant. Accessed 16 Jul. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of vagrant for Spanish Speakers

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