underprivileged
/ʌndəˈprɪvɪlɪdʒd
/adjective
(Of a person) not enjoying the same standard of living or rights as the majority of people in a society: needy and underprivileged members of the community (as plural noun the underprivileged) the plight of the underprivileged...
- This occasion, as in previous years, was one of happiness and support for underprivileged people in society.
- There are underprivileged individuals and groups in the First World, as well as in the Third and New Second Worlds.
- It was my childhood desire to assist underprivileged people of Third World countries in any way I could.
Synonyms
needy, deprived, in need, in want, in distress, disadvantaged, needful, poor, destitute, in reduced circumstances, in straitened circumstances, impoverished, poverty-stricken, penurious, indigent, as poor as a church mouse, unable to keep the wolf from the door;
British on the breadline, without two pennies/brass farthings to rub together
informal on one's uppers, on one's beam-ends
rare pauperized, beggared, necessitous
