1
as in impoverished
lacking money or material possessions
many families were left destitute by the horrible fire
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in devoid
utterly lacking in something needed, wanted, or expected
a lingering drought and a sky destitute of rain clouds
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of destitute
To make matters worse, the equally destitute viewing public is rewarded for ratting out the runners (or killing the contestants themselves), which pits neighbor against neighbor in a way that keeps the underclass at war with itself.
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David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 11 Nov. 2025
Other than their great number, these Irish immigrants were different from previous new arrivals because many of them were absolutely destitute and many came from rural areas.
—Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 28 Oct. 2025
The movement of aid has increased through Israel’s border, but on a scale that Palestinians say falls short of the needs of a destitute populace.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 19 Oct. 2025
And when the fire kind of dies out, the excitement dies down, and people are still left pretty destitute and trying to figure out how to rebuild their homes.
—George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for destitute
Recent Examples of Synonyms for destitute
Adjective
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The United States must step away from war and send food to Venezuela’s impoverished people.—
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Leaning into the superstition that someone with albinism can bring wealth to those in need, Panay’s story follows a young boy with albinism (Boubacar Dembèlè), whose voice is believed to hold special powers that can protect impoverished miners risking their lives for gold.—
Adjective
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Banking has become functionally correct but emotionally devoid, with the industry swimming in a sea of sameness.—
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That devoid ingredient hindered things exponentially.—
Adjective
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Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas.—
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In recent games, KU’s communication has been pretty poor on defense and that’s led to players taking (and too often missing) wide-open 3-pointers.—
Adjective
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All of that stuff is very much in play in what’s recognizably on-brand Steppenwolf acting, typified by go-for-broke intensity, naked in more ways than one, from Coon and Smallwood, especially.—
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Dennis Hamlin took out multiple mortgages, maxed out several credit cards and nearly went broke, the Associated Press reported, all in pursuit of the dream to get his son into NASCAR.—
Cite this Entry
“Destitute.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/destitute. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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