as in beggar
a young person who is thin and appears homeless or impoverished
the sad sight of waifs on the street
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Recent Examples of waif
Cleverbot veers from sounding like a winsome waif to coming across as a drunk, smart-alecky fifteen-year-old who talks in non sequiturs.
—
Patricia Marx, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
His socialite wife, Margo (Malin Akerman), quickly takes Sophie under her wing, introducing the wide-eyed waif to her gaggle of girlfriends, including Jill (Katie Lowes), the wife of the megachurch’s reverend, and Callie (Jaime Ray Newman), the sheriff’s wife.
—Melissa Locker, Time, 23 July 2025
Meanwhile, Bronte the bookstore waif is uncovering the human aquarium.
—Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 24 Apr. 2025
Diminutive Darcy Rose Byrnes makes for a terrific waif of a hotel maid, her presence central to the action.
—Christopher Smith, Orange County Register, 17 Mar. 2025
The immortal embarrassment of Nosferatu The arduous, debilitating affair between melancholic 1830s waif Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) and her vampire lover-enemy Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård, under tons of prosthetics) begins with deception.
—Alex Abad-Santos, Vox, 10 Jan. 2025
Working with Erivo in particular, Hannon, costume designer Paul Tazewell, and their teams found ways to show that Elphaba is no waif at the start of her journey.
—Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 23 Dec. 2024
Who wouldn’t dream of being the waif led to heaven by a dangerous love?
—Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2024
Shelley Duvall, the saucer-eyed, rail-thin waif who starred in seven films directed by her mentor, Robert Altman, and avoided the ax wielded by an unhinged Jack Nicholson in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, died Thursday.
—Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 July 2024
Patricia Marx, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
His socialite wife, Margo (Malin Akerman), quickly takes Sophie under her wing, introducing the wide-eyed waif to her gaggle of girlfriends, including Jill (Katie Lowes), the wife of the megachurch’s reverend, and Callie (Jaime Ray Newman), the sheriff’s wife.
—Melissa Locker, Time, 23 July 2025
Meanwhile, Bronte the bookstore waif is uncovering the human aquarium.
—Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 24 Apr. 2025
Diminutive Darcy Rose Byrnes makes for a terrific waif of a hotel maid, her presence central to the action.
—Christopher Smith, Orange County Register, 17 Mar. 2025
The immortal embarrassment of Nosferatu The arduous, debilitating affair between melancholic 1830s waif Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) and her vampire lover-enemy Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård, under tons of prosthetics) begins with deception.
—Alex Abad-Santos, Vox, 10 Jan. 2025
Working with Erivo in particular, Hannon, costume designer Paul Tazewell, and their teams found ways to show that Elphaba is no waif at the start of her journey.
—Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 23 Dec. 2024
Who wouldn’t dream of being the waif led to heaven by a dangerous love?
—Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2024
Shelley Duvall, the saucer-eyed, rail-thin waif who starred in seven films directed by her mentor, Robert Altman, and avoided the ax wielded by an unhinged Jack Nicholson in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, died Thursday.
—Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 July 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for waif
Noun
-
In Havana, beggars are ubiquitous.—
Jon Lee Anderson,
New Yorker,
29 Sep. 2025
-
Brando, the owner of an atoll in Tahiti, where his family dwelled, had become the beggar of Hollywood, who had to feed on crumbs.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Help, of course, isn’t coming—not over the Indian Ocean, not in the nursing home, not on the tramps’ moonlit road.—
Helen Shaw,
New Yorker,
2 Oct. 2025
-
Once per act, a second duo crashes in on Didi and Gogo, providing the tramps’ power balance with a lurid, distended foil.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
29 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Waif.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/waif. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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