On this page you'll find 43 synonyms, antonyms, and words related to beggar, such as: bum, panhandler, vagabond, asker, borrower, and deadbeat.
A beggar is a poor person who asks others, or begs, for money or food. Another word for a beggar is a "panhandler," although both terms are vaguely offensive.
beggar. bum. dependent. destitute. down-and-out.
And saying “poor countries” sounds patronizing. In US-speak, you say “low income” people and you say, “developing countries.” Doesn't that seem more polite and respectful? Being “low income” or “developing” sounds much more transitory, like a temporary inconvenience. Everything will get right back on track soon enough.
So try using “people experiencing homelessness” or “people living in the streets” instead of “the homeless,” “a person living below the poverty line” instead of “the poor,” “people who use drugs” instead of “drug users.” - Our aim should be to shift focus from people to the systems that create inequities.
The most widely used British slang words for poor are skint or strapped. These are ways of saying you or someone else has no money. There are other phrases such as “tightening your belt,” though this just implies a careful budgeting as opposed to outright poverty. Skint is the most common term.
blag (slang) touch (someone) for (slang) mooch (slang) cadge.
† "Panhandling," a common term in the United States, is more often referred to as "begging" elsewhere, or occasionally, as "cadging." "Panhandlers" are variously referred to as "beggars," "vagrants," "vagabonds," "mendicants," or "cadgers." The term "panhandling" derives either from the impression created by someone ...
UK, slang: wanted to [hug, smack, kiss] the little beggar!
In recent years advocates and activists have begun to use the word unhoused or houseless to describe individuals without a physical address. However, government agencies and research institutions continue to use the word homeless when reporting on people experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity.
On this page you'll find 34 synonyms, antonyms, and words related to homeless, such as: destitute, displaced, dispossessed, derelict, down-and-out, and itinerant.
and ultimately from Beguine, which OED considers "perhaps the most likely derivation." The Old English word for "beg" was wædlian, from wædl "poverty." Related: Begged; begging. The meaning "ask for" (a favor, etc.) is by 1520s. As a courteous mode of asking (beg pardon, etc.), it is attested by c. 1600.
Begging (also panhandling) is the practice of imploring others to grant a favor, often a gift of money, with zero expectation of reciprocation. A person doing such is called a beggar or panhandler.
Uncovering the different types of begging
Through these contextual interviews, I discovered there seemed to be three common types of begging: Temporal begging, continuous begging, and professional begging. A common image of a person who begs is someone who is dirty or haggard, holding a cup.
Peasants, Serfs and Farmers
Peasants were the poorest people in the medieval era and lived primarily in the country or small villages. Serfs were the poorest of the peasant class, and were a type of slave. Lords owned the serfs who lived on their lands.
It is used in a variety of ways, including as a term of disparagement. "Cunt" is often used as a disparaging and obscene term for a woman in the United States, an unpleasant or stupid man or woman in the United Kingdom, or a contemptible man in Australia and New Zealand.
They were destitute. He's on the bread line. She's in debt / overdrawn / bankrupt. He's doing a minimum-wage job.
From Middle English *homles, *hamles, from Old English hāmlēas (“homeless”), equivalent to home + -less.
Be careful when you call a vagrant or homeless person a hobo — although this is exactly what the word means, it is a somewhat offensive term. The end of the nineteenth century brought the start of the word hobo in the Western United States.