homeless
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
Sensitive Note
There are a number of words used to label people who don’t have permanent housing. While the term homeless was used without controversy for some time, advocates for this population, many style guides, and some people who identify as members of this group now prefer other terms including unhoused, houseless, and unsheltered. The alternative terms to homeless each have a specific nuance of meaning. Unsheltered, for example, includes people who sleep in cars and under overpasses, but not people in temporary housing like city shelters. Houseless and unhoused both mean that a person lacks permanent housing, but may still be a member of a community that they call home, in which case the designation homeless is imprecise. Further, someone’s homeless status is often temporary, as expressed in the phrases “people moving through houselessness,” “people experiencing homelessness,” and “unsheltered people.” Nevertheless, the term homeless is easily understood and even preferred as a term of self-identification by many members of this community. The designation homeless is still widely used and only sometimes offensive or disparaging. However, one should be mindful of the negative connotation this word may have and the many unfortunate associations it has had with poverty, mental illness, substance abuse, or crime. The word should not be used as a euphemism for these other statuses and stigmatized conditions. Homeless should be used only in the strict denotative meaning, and alternative expressions that put the person first, like “an individual experiencing homelessness,” are often preferable.
Other Word Forms
- homelessly adverb
- homelessness noun
Etymology
Origin of homeless
First recorded before 1000; home ( def. ) + -less ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It provides paid work experience at the London living wage to homeless people, disabled people, and prison leavers.
From BBC
The fire on Jan. 22, believed to have been set by a homeless person, took out wooden framing below an asphalt bridge connecting access to a parking lot, making it unusable for safety reasons.
From Los Angeles Times
Her daughter had used Oregon’s shelter system designed for homeless youth to avoid a mother who never abandoned her.
Deputy Welsh Language Commissioner Osian Llywelyn said the condition would be lawful, but stressed language cannot override statutory requirements like prioritising homeless applicants.
From BBC
Josh has been homeless for more than a year after losing his rented home.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
