Meaning & use

destitute

adjective·Advanced

Completely without money, food, or the basic means to live; extremely poor.

See it in a sentence

The flood left thousands of families destitute and in need of emergency shelter.

He arrived in the city destitute, with only the clothes on his back.

A note on using this word

"Destitute" is often followed by "of," meaning entirely lacking something, as in "destitute of hope."

Words with a similar meaning

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

wealthyaffluent

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