VOOZH about

URL: https://www.wordreference.com/definition/destitute

⇱ destitute - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

destitute

Listen:

UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈdɛstɪtjuːt/

US:USA pronunciation: IPAUSA pronunciation: IPA/ˈdɛstɪˌtut, -ˌtjut/

US:USA pronunciation: respellingUSA pronunciation: respelling(des′ti to̅o̅t′, -tyo̅o̅t′)


Inflections of 'destitute' (v): (⇒ conjugate)
destitutes
v 3rd person singular
destituting
v pres p
destituted
v past
destituted
v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
des•ti•tute /ˈdɛstɪˌtut, -ˌtyut/USA pronunciation  adj. 
  1. without means to live:money for destitute families.
  2. [ be + ~ + of] deprived of or lacking:At that point I was destitute of feeling.
des•ti•tu•tion /ˌdɛstɪˈtuʃən, -ˈtyu-/USA pronunciation  n. [uncountable]See -stit-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
des•ti•tute  (des′ti to̅o̅t′, -tyo̅o̅t′),USA pronunciation adj., v., -tut•ed, -tut•ing. 
adj. 
  1. without means of subsistence;
    lacking food, clothing, and shelter.
  2. deprived of, devoid of, or lacking (often fol. by of ):destitute of children.

v.t. 
  1. to leave destitute.
  • Latin dēstitūtus (past participle of dēstituere to abandon, deprive of support), equivalent. to dē- de- + stit- place, put (combining form of statuere; see statute) + -ū- thematic vowel + -tus past participle suffix
  • Middle English 1350–1400
des′ti•tute′ly, adv. 
des′ti•tute′ness, n. 
    1. needy, poor, indigent, necessitous, penniless, impoverished. 2. deficient.
    1. affluent.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
destitute /ˈdɛstɪˌtjuːt/ adj
  1. lacking the means of subsistence; totally impoverished
  2. (postpositive) followed by of: completely lacking; deprived or bereft (of): destitute of words
  3. obsolete abandoned or deserted
Etymology: 14th Century: from Latin dēstitūtus forsaken, from dēstituere to leave alone, from statuere to placeˈdestiˌtuteness n
'destitute' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):

🗣️Forum discussions with the word(s) "destitute" in the title:


Look up "destitute" at Merriam-Webster
Look up "destitute" at dictionary.com
  • Go to Preferences page and choose from different actions for taps or mouse clicks.

In other languages: Spanish | French | Italian | Portuguese | Romanian | German | Dutch | Swedish | Russian | Polish | Czech | Greek | Turkish | Chinese | Japanese | Korean | Arabic

Advertisements
Advertisements
Report an inappropriate ad.
WordReference.com
WORD OF THE DAY
GET THE DAILY EMAIL!
Become a WordReference Supporter to view the site ad-free.
Firefox users: use search shortcuts for the fastest search of WordReference.
Copyright © 2026 WordReference.com
Please report any problems.