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vagrancy

Other forms: vagrancies

Vagrancy is a legal term that's used to talk about people who are experiencing homelessness. In many places, the category of vagrancy includes things like loitering and panhandling.

Arresting people for vagrancy — essentially for not having a permanent home — has been controversial for a long time in the U.S. Opponents consider such a charge to be unconstitutional, since it's not a crime to be so poor or disenfranchised that you don't have a place to live and must rely on charity. Still, many people connect vagrancy with crime and laziness. The Germanic root of this word means "wander."

Definitions of vagrancy
  1. noun
    the state of wandering from place to place; having no permanent home or means of livelihood
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    type of:
    homelessness
    the state or condition of having no home (especially the state of living in the streets)
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