down-and-out 1 of 2

Definition of down-and-outnext
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down-and-out

2 of 2

noun

variants or down-and-outer

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of down-and-out
Adjective
Not so long ago, Pratt seemed down-and-out and was selling crystals to make a living. Louis Staples, The Atlantic, 1 June 2026 Based on William Hjortsberg’s 1978 novel Fallen Angel and the sequel Angel’s Inferno, the series will follow a down-and-out NYC paparazzi, who makes his living finding and photographing people who don’t want to be found, who is hired by a mysterious man to find a missing woman. Justin Kroll, Deadline, 28 May 2026 Fort Greene Park | Free with RSVP A down-and-out ex-soccer player joins forces with a former monk to assemble an unlikely team of players to win the China Super Cup soccer tournament. Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 12 May 2026 The once down-and-out chipmaker continues to fire on all cylinders under Lip Bu Tan, who has only been CEO for 13 months. Jim Cramer, CNBC, 24 Apr. 2026 Three years later, the two actors reunited for an even messier love story, the down-and-out souls of Danny and the Deep Blue Sea. Kathleen Perricone, Entertainment Weekly, 9 Apr. 2026 The rather down-and-out-looking fellow in front of me was buying a handful of lottery tickets. Jim Nowlan, Chicago Tribune, 5 Mar. 2026 The first pictures McCullin took were of hoodlums and down-and-outs, subjects that reflected his own hardscrabble background. Andrew Pulver, Air Mail, 31 Jan. 2026 While the aggressively noirish script (by Kubrick and his friend Howard Sackler, who had also written Fear and Desire) about a down-and-out boxer who falls for a gangster’s moll sometimes comes off like a parody, Kubrick is clearly coming into his own here as an artist. Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 31 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for down-and-out
Adjective
  • Following a year of historically weak hiring in 2025, hiring rebounded this spring.
    Rachel Barber, USA Today, 2 July 2026
  • In a weak free-agency class, centers Robert Williams III (Portland) and Mark Williams (Phoenix) are already off the market, each reportedly agreeing to return to their current teams.
    Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026
Adjective
  • This British drama series follows a woman named Emma over the course of more than six decades of her life, from the 1900s through the 1970s, working her way from impoverished maid to the world’s richest woman.
    Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 4 July 2026
  • Known as a Neglected Tropical Disease because of the lack of funding to fight it, schistosomiasis is a serious challenge for impoverished communities.
    William McCarthy, NPR, 4 July 2026
Noun
  • Historically in Chicago, parent fundraising has been a story of have versus have-not schools, a dynamic threatening to drive deeper inequity in a segregated district.
    Mila Koumpilova, Chicago Tribune, 22 June 2026
  • Often, football is described as a game of haves and have-nots.
    Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 11 June 2026
Adjective
  • And while Creger still thought the bill was positive, she was disappointed to see the weakened language around adding lanes to highways.
    Ariane Lange, Sacbee.com, 25 June 2026
  • The weakened plants are more susceptible to insects and disease pests.
    Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 25 June 2026
Adjective
  • Because of that, these hands suffer from high production costs, poor durability against impacts, short operational lifespans, and there are no existing solutions that engineers can readily draw upon, Wang added.
    John Liu, CNN Money, 30 June 2026
  • The extreme heat can also affect people who are physically ill, especially those with heart disease or high blood pressure, or who take certain medications, such as for depression, insomnia, or poor circulation.
    Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 29 June 2026
Noun
  • Lower than proletariat workers, the lumpenproletariat includes the indigent and the unemployable, those cast out of the workforce with no recourse, or those who can’t enter it in the first place, such as young workers in times of economic depression.
    Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The gags are both belabored and feeble.
    Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 26 June 2026
  • Jolted by a feeble office market, a growing number of developers are considering ways to convert their office properties to other uses, such as housing projects.
    George Avalos, Mercury News, 17 June 2026
Noun
  • Stock Chart IconStock chart icon Gold not glittering As for gold, while the yellow metal has traditionally been sought out by kings and paupers throughout history alike, the anaemic gold price has puzzled experts.
    Lim Hui Jie,Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 3 July 2026
  • Bournemouth are not a pauper club any more, but the performance this season has still be remarkable.
    Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 25 May 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Down-and-out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/down-and-out. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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