Adjacent Words

Destitute definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DESTITUTE, a. [L. To set. Literally, set from or away.]
1. Not having or possessing; wanting; as destitute of virtue, or of peity; destitute of food and clothing. It differs from deprived, as it does not necessarily imply previous possession.
2. Needy; abject; comfortless; friendless.
He will regard the prayer of the destitute. Psalms 102.
DESTITUTE, n. One who is without friends or comfort.
DESTITUTE, v.t.
1. To forsake.
2. To deprive.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: poor enough to need help from others [syn: destitute, impoverished, indigent, necessitous, needy, poverty-stricken]
2: completely wanting or lacking; "writing barren of insight"; "young recruits destitute of experience"; "innocent of literary merit"; "the sentence was devoid of meaning" [syn: barren, destitute, devoid, free, innocent]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Latin destitutus, past participle of destituere to abandon, deprive, from de- + statuere to set up — more at statute Date: 14th century 1. lacking something needed or desirable <a lake destitute of fish> 2. lacking possessions and resources; especially suffering extreme poverty <a destitute old man> • destituteness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 without food, shelter, etc.; completely impoverished. 2 (usu. foll. by of) lacking (destitute of friends). Derivatives: destitution n. Etymology: ME f. L destitutus past part. of destituere forsake (as DE-, statuere place)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Destitute Des"ti*tute, a. [L. destitutus, p. p. of destituere to set away, leave alone, forsake; de + statuere to set. See Statute.] 1. Forsaken; not having in possession (something necessary, or desirable); deficient; lacking; devoid; -- often followed by of. In thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute. --Ps. cxli. 8. Totally destitute of all shadow of influence. --Burke. 2. Not possessing the necessaries of life; in a condition of want; needy; without possessions or resources; very poor. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented. --Heb. xi. 37.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Destitute Des"ti*tute, v. t. 1. To leave destitute; to forsake; to abandon. [Obs.] To forsake or destitute a plantation. --Bacon. 2. To make destitute; to cause to be in want; to deprive; -- followed by of. [Obs.] Destituted of all honor and livings. --Holinshed. 3. To disappoint. [Obs.] When his expectation is destituted. --Fotherby.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Someone who is destitute has no money or possessions. (FORMAL) ...destitute children who live on the streets. ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Indigent, needy, poor, penniless, necessitous, distressed, reduced, pinched, short of money, out of money, out of cash, out of pocket, in need, in want, moneyless.

Moby Thesaurus

badly off, bankrupt, bereft of, broke, broken, busted, deficient, depleted, deprived of, destitute of, devoid of, divested, down-and-out, drained, empty, exhausted, failed, fortuneless, hard up, homeless, impecunious, impoverished, in need, in receivership, in the gutter, in the red, in want, indigent, innocent, insolvent, landless, moneyless, necessitous, needy, on the rocks, out of funds, penniless, penurious, poor, poverty, poverty-stricken, propertyless, ruined, stripped, void, without, without a sou