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
Sadly, the reason bus shelters are disappearing is that the city does not wish to provide seating for homeless people or other kinds of vagrants who may congregate there. — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 3 Jan. 2026 One mask depicts a frowning hobo with a 5 o'clock shadow that represents the aforementioned vagrant. — Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 15 Dec. 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
  • Other new arrivals included the Choukara bag inspired by the traditional saddle bags carried by nomadic peoples.
    — Katie Abel, Footwear News, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Born in Ohio, Steinem grew up poor, the daughter of a nomadic antique dealer father and an ex-journalist mother who spent time in psychiatric hospitals.
    — The Week US, TheWeek, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of nomadic
Noun
  • Dhaka’s rundown streets peppered with the homeless, vendors and child beggars.
    — Miriam Balanescu, IndieWire, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Robert Pattinson’s big outburst in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey,’ has gone viral—here’s the ‘beggars’ meme, explained.
    — Dani Di Placido, Forbes.com, 26 July 2026
Definition of beggar
Noun
  • The silhouette was heavily elongated, with three-quarter-length jackets and argyle knitwear that covered the bum.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Sep. 2026
  • Within the often zany and slapstick realm of Bob’s Burgers, Tina still manages to steal the show with her singular voice, romantic fantasies, and obsessions with unicorns and boy bums.
    — Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Sep. 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
  • After years in service and living in hobo jungles, Adam returns home.
    — Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Add a slouchy hobo bag and Western belt at the waist for the full effect.
    — Laura Jackson, Vogue, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of hobo
Noun
  • One of the tramps jumping off a freight car was the juvenile player, Frankie Darrow.
    — Thomas Doherty, HollywoodReporter, 19 Sep. 2026
  • In a California town called Anzar in the late-19th century, Paulette is living with a local magnate’s eccentric son who’s fascinated by the tramps gathering outside his manor.
    — Jasmine Vojdani, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of tramp
Noun
  • Anyway, no longer satisfied with making sure that the theatrical trains run on time, Anna is a national parks vagabond, going from job to job, never laying down roots.
    — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 6 Aug. 2026
  • 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
Definition of vagabond
Noun
  • Adults’s Gen-Z characters tend to see their comforts as transient, their identities as mutable, and seriousness as an annoying obligation, all of which the second season pokes at a bit.
    — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Not a forest by any means, but a small woods where there are squirrels and chipmunks, probably snakes and skunks, rabbits and, now and then, passing through on some mysterious transient route, a deer or a family of deer.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of transient

Browse Nearby Words

vagrancy
vagrant
vagrants
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Vagrant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vagrant. Accessed 5 Oct. 2026.

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