Meaning & use

indigent

adjective·Advanced

Extremely poor; lacking the basic resources needed for a decent standard of living.

See it in a sentence

The charity provides free meals and shelter for indigent families in the city.

Courts must appoint a lawyer for indigent defendants who cannot afford one.

A note on using this word

A formal, often legal or bureaucratic term; "poor" or "needy" sounds more natural in everyday conversation.

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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