Association of British Scrabble Players

Culture > Names > Beggars


Now updated for CSW19. New words, if any, and new inflections of existing words, are shown in red.


beggar one who begs; (verb) to reduce to the condition of a beggar.
beggardom the state of being a beggar.
beggarhood the state of being a BEGGAR.
beggarliness the state of being BEGGARLY.
beggarly like a BEGGAR, very poor.
beggary extreme poverty.
besognio a beggar > BESOGNIOS. [It. besogno, need, want].
besonian bezonian (Shakespeare) a beggar.
bindle the bundle in which a hobo carries all his worldly possessions.
bludge to do nothing, idle; to sponge off others. [From bludgeoner, one who wields a bludgeon].
bludger an idler, a scrounger.
bluegown one of a former class of licensed beggars in Scotland.
bum a tramp; a sponger; (verb) to cadge.
cadge to beg or sponge from another.
cadger a scrounger; orig a dealer who travelled around remote country areas, buying and selling farm produce.
caird a travelling tinker; also a tramp or sturdy beggar.
canter one who cants, a beggar.
clackdish clapdish a wooden dish carried by beggars, with a moveable lid which they clacked to attract attention.
clochard a beggar; a vagrant. [Fr. clocher, to limp, from L. clopus, lame.]
cosherer someone who eats at the expense of others, especially relatives.
craver one who craves, a beggar.
dummerer somebody who pretends to be dumb in order to appear a more deserving beggar.
fakir faqir fakeer faquir a religious (esp Muslim) mendicant, ascetic or wonder-worker in India, etc.
gaberlunzie a wandering beggar or a harmless hobo.
gangrel wandering; vagrant; (noun) a vagabond.
hobo a tramp; (verb) to travel as a hobo > HOBOS or HOBOES, HOBOING, HOBOED.
hobodom hoboism the state of being a HOBO.
jarkman a vagabond who fabricates counterfeit passes, licenses and certificates for others > JARKMEN.
landloper a wanderer, a vagabond. [Dutch landlooper, from land + lopen, to run].
lazzarone a homeless idler of Naples who lives by chance work or begging; -- so called from the Hospital of St. Lazarus, which serves as their refuge > LAZZARONI.
maund to beg.
maunder a beggar.
mendicancy the condition of being mendicant; beggary; begging.
mendicant a beggar; a friar who depends on alms.
mendicity the practice of begging; mendicancy.
mump to visit in order to sponge from.
mumper a beggar; a begging impostor.
palliard a professional beggar; a vagabond.
panhandler someone who begs from someone esp. on the street.
prog to wander about and beg; to seek food or other supplies by low arts.
progger one who PROGS, wanders about and begs.
randie randy a violent beggar, esp. a woman.
randy a violent beggar; a coarse virago.
roguery the life of a vagrant.
ruffler a beggar posing as a maimed soldier or sailor.
runagate a fugitive, a runaway, a vagabond.
scatterling a vagrant.
schnorr to beg, esp. in such a way as to make the giver feel beholden.
schnorrer shnorrer a beggar; esp one who wheedles others into supplying his wants.
screeve to write esp. begging-letters.
screever one who writes begging-letters; a pavement artist.
scunge a scrounger, a dirty person; (verb) to slink about.
semihobo a person having some of the characteristics of a hobo > SEMIHOBOS or SEMIHOBOES.
shnorrer see SCHNORRER.
skell a homeless person who lives on the streets.
sorn to impose in order to obtain hospitality, to sponge.
sorner one who obtrudes himself on another for bed and board.
sponger one that sponges, scrounges.
sundowner (Aus. sl.) a loafer or tramp who arrives at a place in time for an evening meal but too late to do any work.
thig to beg; to live on alms > THIGS, THIGGING, THIGGIT or THIGGED.
thigger one who THIGS, a beggar, cadger.
toerag toeragger a beggar, tramp; a despicable person.
tramp tramper one who tramps; a vagrant or vagabond.
trampish like a tramp.
vagabond to go about as a beggar.
vagabondish like a vagabond.
vagabondism being a vagabond.
vagrancy the state of being a vagrant.
vagrant a wanderer with no apparent means of support.
vagrantly (adv.) VAGRANT, wandering.
vagrom vagrant. No —S.
waffie a vagabond.
whipjack a whining beggar who pretends to be a sailor.