vagrant

UK: /ˈveɪgrənt/ US: /ˈveɪgrənt/ ,(vā′grənt)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

va•grant /ˈveɪgrənt/   n. 

[countable]
1. a person who wanders about idly and has no permanent home or employment;
   a vagabond.
2. a person who wanders from place to place;
   wanderer;
   rover.

adj. [before a noun]

3. wandering or roaming from place to place.
4. wandering idly without a permanent home or employment:
   vagrant beggars.
5. not fixed or settled;
   random:
   a vagrant thought.

va•gran•cy, n. [uncountable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

va•grant  (vā′grənt), n. 

1. a person who wanders about idly and has no permanent home or employment;
   vagabond;
   tramp.
2. Law an idle person without visible means of support, as a tramp or beggar.
3. a person who wanders from place to place;
   wanderer;
   rover.
4. wandering idly without a permanent home or employment;
   living in vagabondage:
   vagrant beggars.
5. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a vagrant:
   the vagrant life.

adj. 

6. wandering or roaming from place to place;
   nomadic.
7. (of plants) straggling in growth.
8. not fixed or settled, esp. in course;
   moving hither and thither:
   a vagrant leaf blown by the wind.

• Latin vagārī to wander) and *walcren ( Old French wa(u)crer), equivalent. to walc- (see walk) + -r- frequentative suffix + -en infinitive suffix
• Middle English *vagren, blend of, blended vagen (
• late Middle English vagaraunt, apparently present participle of Anglo-French *vagrer, perh. 1400–50

va′grant•ly, adv. 
va′grant•ness, n. 
Synonyms

• 1. Vagrant, vagabond describe an idle, disreputable person who lacks a fixed abode.
  Vagrant suggests a tramp, a person with no settled abode or livelihood, an idle and disorderly person:
  picked up by police as a vagrant.
  Vagabond especially emphasizes the idea of worthless living, often by trickery, thieving, or other disreputable means:
  Actors were once classed with rogues and vagabonds.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

vagrant / ˈveɪɡrənt/ noun

1. a person of no settled abode, income, or job; tramp
2. a migratory animal that is off course

adjective

1. wandering about; nomadic
2. of, relating to, or characteristic of a vagrant or vagabond
3. moving in an erratic fashion, without aim or purpose; wayward
4. (of plants) showing uncontrolled or straggling growth

Etymology: 15th Century: probably from Old French waucrant (from wancrer to roam, of Germanic origin), but also influenced by Old French vagant vagabond, from Latin vagārī to wander

ˈvagrantly adverb