waifs

noun

plural of waif
as in beggars
a young person who is thin and appears homeless or impoverished the sad sight of waifs on the street

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for waifs
  1. beggars
  2. tramps
Noun
  • Robert Pattinson’s big outburst in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey,’ has gone viral—here’s the ‘beggars’ meme, explained.
    — Dani Di Placido, Forbes.com, 26 July 2026
  • The War In times of peace, Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) had hosted parties in their palace for all — even beggars were welcome.
    — Tanya Fedak, Variety, 18 July 2026
Definition of beggars
Noun
  • In a California town called Anzar in the late-19th century, Paulette is living with a local magnate’s eccentric son who’s fascinated by the tramps gathering outside his manor.
    — Jasmine Vojdani, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2026
  • The scene inspired future comedy gags showing drifters and tramps losing their pants to dogs chasing them.
    — Mike Barnes, HollywoodReporter, 29 Jan. 2026
Definition of tramps
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

waif
waifs
wail
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Waifs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/waifs. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

A List of Most Commonly Confused Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 4
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
anagrams on a chalk board
Word Builder Quiz Vol. 2 Pick the letter that when added to a word will ma...
See All