Standard Lemma guide

indigent

adj · noun · 4 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈɪndɪd͡ʒənt/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • /ɪnˈd(a)ɪd͡ʒənt/
  • CMU ARPABET: IH1 N D IH0 JH AH0 N T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Poor; destitute; in need.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: almsless, arm, badly off, bankrupt, beggared, beggarly, boracic, broke, broken, broker than the Ten Commandments, depauperate, destitute, dirt poor, disadvantaged, down and out, down at heel, down on one's luck, down on one's uppers, empty-handed, farthingless, feeling the pinch, flat, goodless, groatless, hard up, impecunious, impoverished, in need, indigent, insolvent, lower-class, moneyless, necessitous, needy, oofless, pauperized, penniless, penurious, pinched, pok kai, poor, poor as a church mouse, poor as a rat, poor as Job, possessionless, poverty-ridden, poverty-stricken, shillingless, skint, stone-broke, stony-broke, strapped, stuck, threadbare, unwealthy, wealthless

Antonyms: affluent

2

adj

Meaning 2

Utterly lacking or in need of something specified.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A person in need, or in poverty.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bankrupt, beggar, indigent, insolvent, have not, lack-all, Lazarus, pauper, penny-father, poor

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

poor enough to need help from others

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: destitute, impoverished, necessitous, needy, poverty-stricken

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English indigent, from Old French indigent, from Latin indigēns, present participle of indigeō (“to need”), from indu (“in, within”) + egeō (“to be in need, want”).

Across languages

Translations

62 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: աղքատ (aġkʻat) — poor; destitute
  • Armenian: չքավոր (čʻkʻavor) — poor; destitute
  • Bengali: মুহতাজ (muhotaj) — poor; destitute
  • Bulgarian: беден (beden) — poor; destitute
  • Catalan: indigent — poor; destitute
  • Dutch: behoeftig — poor; destitute
  • Dutch: nooddruftig — poor; destitute
  • Dutch: onbemiddeld — poor; destitute
  • Dutch: arm — poor; destitute
  • Dutch: indigent — poor; destitute
  • Finnish: köyhä — poor; destitute
  • Finnish: varaton — poor; destitute
  • Finnish: puutteenalainen — poor; destitute
  • French: nécessiteux — poor; destitute
  • French: indigent — poor; destitute
  • Galician: indixente — poor; destitute
  • German: bedürftig — poor; destitute
  • German: mittellos — poor; destitute
  • German: arm — poor; destitute
  • German: notleidend — poor; destitute
  • German: Not leidend — poor; destitute
  • German: hilfsbedürftig — poor; destitute
  • Irish: daibhir — poor; destitute
  • Italian: indigente — poor; destitute
  • Kalmyk: яду (yadu) — poor; destitute
  • Latin: indigēns — poor; destitute
  • Māori: takaonge — poor; destitute
  • Plautdietsch: oam — poor; destitute
  • Portuguese: indigente — poor; destitute
  • Russian: бе́дный (bédnyj) — poor; destitute
  • Russian: бедствующий (bedstvujuščij) — poor; destitute
  • Russian: нуждающийся (nuždajuščijsja) — poor; destitute
  • Russian: ни́щий (níščij) — poor; destitute
  • Spanish: indigente — poor; destitute
  • Swedish: fattig — poor; destitute
  • Swedish: behövande — poor; destitute
  • Swedish: utblottad — poor; destitute
  • Swedish: nödlidande — poor; destitute
  • Ottoman Turkish: یوقسول (yoksul) — poor; destitute
  • Ottoman Turkish: فقیر (fakir) — poor; destitute
  • Bulgarian: бедняк (bednjak) — a person in need or in poverty
  • Catalan: indigent — a person in need or in poverty
  • Dutch: arme — a person in need or in poverty
  • Dutch: behoeftige — a person in need or in poverty
  • Dutch: noodlijder — a person in need or in poverty
  • Dutch: armlastige — a person in need or in poverty
  • Finnish: köyhä — a person in need or in poverty
  • French: nécessiteux — a person in need or in poverty
  • French: indigent — a person in need or in poverty
  • German: Bedürftiger — a person in need or in poverty
  • German: Notleidender — a person in need or in poverty
  • German: Armer — a person in need or in poverty
  • German: Arme — a person in need or in poverty
  • German: Armen — a person in need or in poverty
  • German: Arme — a person in need or in poverty
  • Irish: daibhir — a person in need or in poverty
  • Japanese: 貧乏人 (binbōnin) — a person in need or in poverty
  • Portuguese: indigente — a person in need or in poverty
  • Spanish: indigente — a person in need or in poverty
  • Swedish: behövande — a person in need or in poverty
  • Ottoman Turkish: فقیر (fakir) — a person in need or in poverty
  • Ottoman Turkish: درویش (derviş) — a person in need or in poverty