A vagrant is someone who moves a lot from place to place because they have no permanent home or job, and have to ask for or steal things in order to live.
He lived on the street as a vagrant.
Synonyms: drifter, tramp [old-fashioned], bum [informal], vagabond More Synonyms of vagrant
More Synonyms of vagrant
vagrant in British English
(ˈveɪɡrənt)
noun
1.
a person of no settled abode, income, or job; tramp
2.
a migratory animal that is off course
adjective
3.
wandering about; nomadic
4.
of, relating to, or characteristic of a vagrant or vagabond
5.
moving in an erratic fashion, without aim or purpose; wayward
6.
(of plants) showing uncontrolled or straggling growth
Archaic equivalent: vagrom
Derived forms
vagrantly (ˈvagrantly)
adverb
vagrantness (ˈvagrantness)
noun
Word origin
C15: probably from Old French waucrant (from wancrer to roam, of Germanic origin), but also influenced by Old French vagant vagabond, from Latin vagārī to wander
vagrant in American English
(ˈveɪgrənt)
noun
1.
a person who wanders from place to place or lives a wandering life; rover
2.
one who wanders from place to place without a regular job, supporting oneself by begging, etc.; idle wanderer; vagabond
3. Law
a tramp, beggar, prostitute, or similar idle or disorderly persons whose way of living makes them liable to arrest and detention
adjective
4.
wandering from place to place or living a wandering life; roaming; nomadic
5.
living the life of a vagabond or tramp
6.
of or characteristic of a vagrant
7.
characterized by straggling growth
said of plants
8.
following no fixed direction, course, or pattern; random, wayward, fleeting, erratic, etc.
SIMILAR WORDS: iˈtinerant
SYNONYMY NOTE: vagrant refers to a person without a fixed home who wanders about from place to place, gainingsupport from begging, etc., and in legal usage, implies such a person regarded asa public nuisance, subject to arrest; , vagabond, orig. implying shiftlessness, rascality, etc., now often connotes no more than acarefree, roaming existence; , bum1, tramp, hobo are informal equivalents for the preceding, but , bum1 always connotes an idle, dissolute, often alcoholic person who never works, , tramp, hobo connote a vagrant, whether one who lives by begging or by doing odd jobs; , hobo now also means a migratory laborer
Derived forms
vagrantly (ˈvagrantly)
adverb
Word origin
ME vagraunt, prob. < Anglo-Fr wacrant, walcrant < OFr walcrer, to wander < Frank *walken (see walk): infl. prob. by L vagari, to wander
Examples of 'vagrant' in a sentence
vagrant
But ideals are easy; the acid test is how you relate to the individual vagrant, and all his dirt.
Pritchard, John NIGHT SISTERS (2002)
They took her to a hospice as a pauper and a vagrant and she died there.
Malcolm, John THE GWEN JOHN SCULPTURE (2002)
(noun)
Definition
a person who moves from place to place and has no regular home or job
(old-fashioned)
He lived on the street as a vagrant.
Synonyms
drifter
an out-of-work drifter
tramp (old-fashioned)
bum (informal)
A bum, a derelict, is what he looked like.
vagabond
He had lived as a vagabond, begging for food.
rolling stone
wanderer
Her father, a restless wanderer, abandoned the family.
beggar
Now I am a beggar, having lost everything except life.
derelict
A confused and wizened derelict wandered in off the street.
itinerant
down-and-out
some poor down-and-out in need of a meal
hobo (US)
bag lady
dosser (British, slang)
pikey (British, slang)
bird of passage
person of no fixed address
derro (Australian, slang)
(adjective)
Definition
wandering about
a vagrant hitchhiker
Synonyms
vagabond
drifting
wandering
a band of wandering musicians
homeless
journeying
unsettled
roaming
idle
roving
nomadic
the nomadic tribes of the Western Sahara
destitute
itinerant
the author's experiences as an itinerant musician
down and out
rootless
rootless young people
footloose
fly-by-night (informal)
shiftless
Opposites
settled
,
fixed
,
rooted
,
established
Additional synonyms
in the sense of beggar
Definition
a person who lives by begging
Now I am a beggar, having lost everything except life.
Synonyms
vagrant (old-fashioned),
tramp (old-fashioned),
bankrupt,
bum (informal),
derelict (old-fashioned),
drifter,
down-and-out,
pauper (old-fashioned),
hobo (US),
vagabond (old-fashioned),
bag lady,
dosser (British, slang),
derro (Australian, slang),
starveling (old-fashioned)
in the sense of bum
Definition
a tramp
A bum, a derelict, is what he looked like.
Synonyms
vagrant,
tramp,
derelict,
drifter,
down-and-out,
hobo (US),
vagabond,
bag lady (US),
dosser (British, slang),
derro (Australian, slang)
in the sense of derelict
Definition
a social outcast or vagrant
A confused and wizened derelict wandered in off the street.
Synonyms
vagrant,
tramp (old-fashioned),
bum (informal),
outcast,
drifter,
down-and-out,
hobo (US),
vagabond (old-fashioned),
bag lady,
dosser (British, slang),
derro (Australian, slang)
Nearby words of
vagrant
vagary
vagina
vagrancy
vagrant
vague
vaguely
vagueness
Synonyms of 'vagrant'
vagrant
Explore 'vagrant' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of down-and-out
Definition
a person who is homeless and destitute
some poor down-and-out in need of a meal
Synonyms
vagrant,
tramp,
bum (informal),
beggar,
derelict,
outcast,
pauper,
vagabond,
bag lady,
dosser (British, slang),
derro (Australian, slang)
in the sense of itinerant
Definition
working for a short time in various places
the author's experiences as an itinerant musician
Synonyms
wandering,
travelling,
journeying,
unsettled,
roaming,
roving,
nomadic,
migratory,
vagrant,
peripatetic,
vagabond,
ambulatory,
wayfaring
in the sense of nomadic
the nomadic tribes of the Western Sahara
Synonyms
wandering,
travelling,
roaming,
migrant,
pastoral,
roving,
itinerant,
migratory,
vagrant,
peripatetic
in the sense of rootless
Definition
having no sense of belonging
rootless young people
Synonyms
footloose,
homeless,
roving,
transient,
itinerant,
vagabond
in the sense of tramp
Definition
a homeless person who travels about on foot, living by begging or doing casual work
Synonyms
vagrant,
bum (informal),
derelict,
drifter,
down-and-out,
hobo (US),
vagabond,
bag lady,
dosser (British, slang),
derro (Australian, slang)
in the sense of wanderer
Her father, a restless wanderer, abandoned the family.