destitution

destitute | American Dictionary

destitute
adjective
us/ˈdes·tɪˌtut/
without money, possessions, or any of the things needed to live:
These groups gathered clothing, schoolbooks, and medical supplies for the destitute flood victims.

destitute | Business English

destitute
adjective
uk /ˈdestɪtjuːt/us
without money, food, a home, or possessions:
During the global economic crisis many people were left destitute.

destitution

noun[ U ]
Poverty and destitution are widespread in the country.

Examples of destitute

destitute
They are half naked, and almost entirely destitute of the common necessities of life.
It is not surprising that their principal concern was with the high proportion of destitute pilgrims.
The consequence of deprivation for height is further emphasized by the greater stunting of the more impoverished destitute boys.
I walked the town till 12, being destitute of a farthing.
Unlike in a real market economy, the model has no risk of ending up destitute through bad luck, bad decisions or both.
Only boys aged 13 to 16 were included in the analysis and those whose next-of-kin or destitute state is unknown were excluded.
Several million people had been dispersed around the country, destitute and homeless.
Charitable foundations extended aid to the destitute or sick.
For the individual, the likelihood of becoming destitute was dependent upon one's life-course stage.
When the destitute man applied for poor relief it was decided that the children should be boarded out.
Primogeniture ensured that senior family members would control clan land, leaving junior family members destitute.
In contrast, in a system of poor relief, compensation was first provided when a person became destitute.
In this war arena there isn't even the dimmest light of hope and relief for the weak and destitute.
Being unable to invest in education, the destitute invest in children.
Where this potential problem cannot be dismissed outright, as in the case of the most destitute, first-best policies can be devised to address it directly.
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.