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View synonyms for vagrant

vagrant

[ vey-gruhnt ]

noun

  1. a person who wanders about idly and has no permanent home or employment; vagabond; tramp.
  2. Law. an idle person without visible means of support, as a tramp or beggar.
  3. a person who wanders from place to place; wanderer; rover.
  4. wandering idly without a permanent home or employment; living in vagabondage:

    vagrant beggars.



adjective

  1. of, relating to, or characteristic of a vagrant:

    the vagrant life.

  2. wandering or roaming from place to place; nomadic.
  3. (of plants) straggling in growth.
  4. not fixed or settled, especially in course; moving hither and thither:

    a vagrant leaf blown by the wind.

vagrant

/ ˈveɪɡrənt /

noun

  1. a person of no settled abode, income, or job; tramp
  2. a migratory animal that is off course


adjective

  1. wandering about; nomadic
  2. of, relating to, or characteristic of a vagrant or vagabond
  3. moving in an erratic fashion, without aim or purpose; wayward
  4. (of plants) showing uncontrolled or straggling growth

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Derived Forms

  • ˈvagrantness, noun
  • ˈvagrantly, adverb

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Other Words From

  • vagrant·ly adverb
  • vagrant·ness noun
  • non·vagrant adjective
  • non·vagrant·ly adverb
  • non·vagrant·ness noun
  • un·vagrant adjective
  • un·vagrant·ly adverb
  • un·vagrant·ness noun

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Word History and Origins

Origin of vagrant1

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English vagaraunt, apparently present participle of unattested Anglo-French vagrer, perhaps from unattested Middle English vagren, blend of vagen (from Latin vagārī “to wander”) and unattested walcren (becoming Old French wa(u)crer ), equivalent to walc- ( walk ) + -r- frequentative suffix + -en infinitive suffix

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Word History and Origins

Origin of vagrant1

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

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Synonym Study

Vagrant, vagabond describe an idle, disreputable person who lacks a fixed abode. Vagrant suggests a tramp, a person with no settled abode or livelihood, an idle and disorderly person: picked up by police as a vagrant. Vagabond especially emphasizes the idea of worthless living, often by trickery, thieving, or other disreputable means: Actors were once classed with rogues and vagabonds.

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Example Sentences

The commissioner had heard screaming, looked outside and saw a father pushing a baby in a stroller accompanied by another toddler moving away from a person the witness described as a vagrant, who was following them with a brick, Krepp said.

Occasionally, “vagrant” birds get lost and show up far from this range, including in Europe.

Among songbirds, Dufour says, vagrants are always young birds.

I’d gotten wind via the eBird Rare Bird Alert that a vagrant woodcock had been spotted along the Rio Grande near Albuquerque, New Mexico, just 15 minutes from my house.

In an interview, Liang said, “Air should be the most valueless commodity, free to breathe for any vagrant or beggar.”

Yet the word vagrant is a misnomer in this city, where economy has reached a finesse that is marvelous.

For the first time Bud had a vagrant suspicion that Foster had not told quite all there was to tell about this trip.

Orders were issued to the boards of management of the newly created vagrant districts, telling them that they need not meet.

Yet even for the professional vagrant the promiscuous London casual ward of 1864 was not to be extended.

Says one of the characters, referring to the importunities of a tipsy vagrant, “Give him half-a-crown!”

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