indigent

Indigent is an adjective meaning lacking financial resources or ability to pay; needy or poor. It is used more often in formal, legal, or policy contexts than in everyday speech. The related noun form indigence refers to the state of being indigent, and the noun can also appear as “an indigent” to denote a person who is poor. The word derives from Latin indigentem or indigens, meaning “lacking” or “needing,” from in- “not” plus egere “to lack.”

In legal contexts, indigent commonly designates a person who cannot afford to hire legal representation or to pay court costs. Indigent status triggers eligibility for appointed counsel or public defenders, and it often depends on means testing. Indigent defense programs and fee-waiver policies hinge on this designation. In the United States, the right to counsel for those who cannot afford it was established in Gideon v. Wainwright (1963).

Outside crime and courts, indigent describes people in poverty or without sufficient resources. The term remains formal or archaic in everyday usage, with common synonyms including impoverished, destitute, and needy. Indigence is the corresponding noun, and indigent may be used as a noun as well as an adjective, though this usage is less frequent in contemporary speech.

Related terms include pauper and destitute, while discussions of policy often address welfare, social services, and means-tested programs designed to assist the indigent population.