| Library / English Dictionary |
DESTITUTE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Completely wanting or lacking
Example:
the sentence was devoid of meaning
Synonyms:
barren; destitute; devoid; free; innocent
Classified under:
Similar:
nonexistent (not having existence or being or actuality)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Poor enough to need help from others
Synonyms:
destitute; impoverished; indigent; necessitous; needy; poverty-stricken
Classified under:
Similar:
poor (having little money or few possessions)
Context examples:
Some of the best people that ever lived have been as destitute as I am; and if you are a Christian, you ought not to consider poverty a crime.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Then, in the privacy of my own little cabin, she informed me that Ham and Em'ly were an orphan nephew and niece, whom my host had at different times adopted in their childhood, when they were left destitute: and that Mrs. Gummidge was the widow of his partner in a boat, who had died very poor.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
I acknowledged no natural claim on Adele's part to be supported by me, nor do I now acknowledge any, for I am not her father; but hearing that she was quite destitute, I e'en took the poor thing out of the slime and mud of Paris, and transplanted it here, to grow up clean in the wholesome soil of an English country garden.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
At this moment I discover that I forgot to take my parcel out of the pocket of the coach, where I had placed it for safety; there it remains, there it must remain; and now, I am absolutely destitute.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
