vagrancy

vagrancy — noun

1. the situation of living without a fixed home and wandering because you are poor

1.nounB2
Definition

the situation of living without a fixed home and wandering because you are poor and cannot find steady work

Example

Saira volunteered at a shelter that provides support to people facing vagrancy.

collocation: facing vagrancy

Élise's doctoral thesis explores the connection between vagrancy and mental illness.

Common collocations
  • face vagrancy
  • fall into vagrancy
  • chronic vagrancy
  • state of vagrancy
  • life of vagrancy
Synonyms
  • homelessness

    broader term; vagrancy adds a roaming/wandering element

  • destitution

    focuses on extreme poverty rather than the lack of a fixed home

  • itinerancy

    can imply a chosen lifestyle of travel; vagrancy suggests poverty and hardship

Antonyms
  • settled life

    living stably in one place with a home and income

Usage Note

Frequently used with prepositions 'into' (fall into vagrancy) and 'of' (state of vagrancy). Distinguish from sense 2: this sense refers to the general condition, not the legal charge.

Common Mistakes

Vagrancy means any kind of travel.
Vagrancy refers specifically to homeless wandering, usually due to poverty.
it does not describe leisure travel or tourism.

2. the offense of sleeping rough and begging because you have no regular job or way

2.nounC1
Definition

the offense of sleeping rough and begging because you have no regular job or way to earn money

Example

James was convicted of vagrancy after police found him sleeping in a public park.

passive: convicted of vagrancy

Apinya studied how vagrancy laws were used to control poverty in nineteenth-century England.

Common collocations
  • charged with vagrancy
  • convicted of vagrancy
  • arrested for vagrancy
  • vagrancy laws
  • vagrancy statutes
  • vagrancy charges
Synonyms
  • loitering

    a narrower offense of staying in one place without purpose; vagrancy includes wandering

  • begging

    specific act of asking for money, sometimes a component of vagrancy

Usage Note

Historically used as a broad police power charge. Many jurisdictions have repealed or restricted vagrancy laws because they target poor and homeless people rather than preventing actual crime. This sense is primarily legal-historical in modern usage.

Common Mistakes

He was arrested for vagrancy because he was unemployed.
He was arrested for vagrancy because he was sleeping on the street with no means of support.
vagrancy as a crime typically involves visible homelessness, not just having no job.

Word family

  • vagrant
    nounB2
  • vagrant
    adjectiveC1
  • vagabond
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Homelessness is the broadest term, referring simply to lacking a fixed home, while vagrancy adds the element of moving from place to place. Destitution focuses on extreme poverty — a person can be destitute without wandering. Itinerancy suggests a chosen pattern of travel (e.g., seasonal farm workers or performers), whereas vagrancy carries a stronger connotation of poverty, unemployment, and social marginalization. For example: 'The city council is working to reduce homelessness' focuses on housing; 'The law historically criminalized vagrancy as a form of wandering poverty' targets movement plus destitution.

homelessness ↗destitutionitinerancy

Common collocations

Nouns

  • vagrancy laws
  • vagrancy problem
  • vagrancy rates

Phrases

  • state of vagrancy
  • life of vagrancy

Prepositions

  • into vagrancy
  • of vagrancy

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchEnglish

Vagrancy traces back to the Latin verb 'vagari', meaning 'to wander or roam'. This passed into Old French as 'vagrant', and entered English in the 1400s. The noun form 'vagrancy' appeared in the 1600s, first used as a legal term for people who wandered without work or a fixed home.