Standard Lemma guide

houseless

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈhaʊsləs/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Lacking a house, or, by extension, a residence or place of refuge in general; thus, having no home.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Some advocates for unhoused people have insisted that they be called houseless rather than homeless, but even within the community of advocates there is not universal agreement on this terminological prescription.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: homeless, roofless

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Lacking a permanent place of residence but not a ‘home’ in the broader sense, for example in the form of a community.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • He said that he was houseless but not homeless because he went to school in that community, was registered to vote there, and had been living in the teepee for seventeen years. He said that teepee was his home.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: roofless

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Containing no house or place of refuge; wild or inhospitable.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English housles, from Old English *hūslēas, from Proto-West Germanic *hūslaus, from Proto-Germanic *hūsalausaz, equivalent to house + -less. Cognate with West Frisian húsleas (“houseless”), Dutch huisloos (“houseless”), German hauslos (“houseless”), Danish husløs (“houseless”), Swedish huslös (“houseless”), Icelandic húslaus (“houseless”).

Across languages

Translations

3 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Ancient Greek: ἄνοικος (ánoikos) — lacking a house or residence
  • Norwegian Bokmål: husløs — lacking a house or residence
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: huslaus — lacking a house or residence