How to Use destitute in a Sentence

destitute

adjective
  • His business failures left him destitute.
  • There are people who are destitute when the virus hit and are already broke.
    — James Hibberd, EW.com, 1 June 2020
  • Hundreds of thousands were left destitute and moved to the cities to start over.
    — The Economist, 11 July 2019
  • The lucky ones simply got dismissed from their posts and were left destitute.
    — Sam Kean, The Atlantic, 19 Dec. 2017
  • The remaining half-billion or so are on a par with the most destitute bits of Africa.
    — The Economist, 13 Jan. 2018
  • After a lifetime spent working the streets, the women were destitute and alone, and had nowhere to go.
    — Photographs and Text By Adriana Zehbrauskas, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2018
  • Many were destitute drug users who often worked as prostitutes to support their habit.
    — Brian Melley, ajc, 13 July 2021
  • Many were destitute drug users who often worked as prostitutes to support their habit.
    — Stefanie Dazio, Star Tribune, 27 July 2021
  • Many were destitute drug users who often worked as prostitutes to support their habit.
    — CBS News, 28 July 2021
  • Many were destitute drug users who often worked as prostitutes to support their habit.
    — NBC News, 14 July 2021
  • At that time, resources in Europe were scarce, and people were destitute.
    — A.j. Baime, WSJ, 30 July 2022
  • And around such powerful men, can a teenager from such a destitute area really say no?
    — New York Times, 29 Mar. 2021
  • The plan hires homeless people and teaches them how to make coats for the destitute suffering on the streets.
    — Holly Yan, CNN, 21 Jan. 2020
  • The expense almost left him destitute.
    — Nichole Marks, CBS News, 5 Apr. 2026
  • Applicants had to begin the process by quitting their jobs; those whose visas were denied were left destitute.
    — William Baldwin, Forbes, 13 Apr. 2022
  • None of this is to suggest that Van Der Beek was anything like destitute.
    — Benjamin Svetkey, HollywoodReporter, 21 Feb. 2026
  • Black people, who have a little money, but not a lot, but aren't destitute on the street and who've grown up with all sorts of people.
    — Darcel Rockett, chicagotribune.com, 25 May 2017
  • At the same time, South Asia was left destitute when the British receded.
    — New York Times, 19 Feb. 2022
  • From the point of view of the not-quite-destitute, food thieves don’t deserve solidarity.
    — Ann Larson, The New Republic, 5 Mar. 2021
  • And the MacKenzies are one silver fork away from being destitute.
    — Lincee Ray Published, EW.com, 22 Aug. 2025
  • As the day of food distribution wraps up, Rose looks out on the people who are still homeless and destitute.
    — Benjamin Oreskes, www.latimes.com, 7 June 2018
  • His departure left his wife and children destitute, forcing them to live off of his Navy pension for a time.
    — Leah Silverman, Town & Country, 14 Mar. 2018
  • After years of war and revolution, Nicaragua was destitute; there was no money for street signs.
    — Tim Golden, ProPublica, 30 Dec. 2025
  • Then, in 1888, its acres were set aside for disabled and destitute veterans.
    — Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec. 2024
  • This is a destitute Naples, and Lewis’s acute powers of observation put us right there.
    — Edward Chisholm, WSJ, 20 May 2022
  • But the scale of its riches is more than matched by a wildly corrupt political class that leaves most Iraqis all but destitute.
    — Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 26 Nov. 2021
  • Here was a gemstone of goodness who had ascended to the levers of power in the wealthiest country to aid the most destitute.
    — Isaac Lozano, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Aug. 2021
  • Many of the Kingdom’s performers arrive destitute and begging on the street.
    — Charlie Campbell / Kunming, Time, 1 June 2018
  • Skid row has long been the downtown zone where Los Angeles has shunted services for its most destitute.
    — Emily Alpert Reyesstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 11 May 2022
  • What’s at stake for these retirees, then, is not becoming destitute, but rather not fully enjoying the fruits of their labor.
    — ABC News, 26 May 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'destitute.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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