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Showing results for destitution. Search instead for destitutions/3.
Definitions

destitution

[des-ti-too-shuhn, -tyoo-] / ˌdɛs tɪˈtu ʃən, -ˈtyu- /
NOUN
indigence
Synonyms
STRONG
poverty privation want
Antonyms
STRONG
abundance

Usage

What are other ways to say destitution? Destitution, a somewhat literary word, implies a state of having absolutely none of the necessities of life: widespread destitution in countries at war. Poverty denotes serious lack of the means for proper existence: living in a state of extreme poverty. Indigence denotes a severely impoverished condition that is without any of life’s comforts: reduced to a life of indigence.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

After years of insurgencies, residents in eastern Congo are accustomed to food shortages, inflation and destitution.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 16, 2026

The policy was reversed, with the British Red Cross saying it had led to "devastating levels of destitution".

From BBC • Feb. 5, 2026

The destitution will not just be political and moral, it will be economic too.

From Salon • May 29, 2025

"We are asking for quality of life - nothing more, nothing less. Do not leave millions of us in destitution," he added.

From BBC • Apr. 15, 2025

I could hardly tell how men and women in extremities of destitution proceeded.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.