hobo
Bindle-carrying drifter
A hobo is a migratory worker or homeless vagrant, especially one who travels by freight train.
The term emerged in late 19th-century America and carries connotations of the Great Depression era.
Hobos traditionally distinguished themselves from tramps (who travel but don't work) and bums (who neither travel nor work): He rode the rails as a hobo during the 1930s.
Homeless, aimless wanderer
- trampWandering homeless person
- drifterAimless, rootless traveler
- itinerantMoving for work
- transientTemporary, soon departing
bindle · boxcar · wanderer · roadside · streetlife · campfire · jungle · hooch
Illegally boarding cargo trains
- boxcarEnclosed rail freight carrier
- freightGoods being transported
- railcarTrack-bound transport vessel
- railsGuiding metal bars
depot · junction · siding · gondola · flatcar · railyard · switchyard · brakeman
Idle vagrant
- loaferLaceless slip-on shoe
- idlerHabitually unproductive person
- slackerIdle responsibility evader
- layaboutHabitually idle person
deadbeat · shirker · lazybones · dosser · good-for-nothing · ne'er-do-well · wastrel · vagrant
Obtain through begging
- forageSeek food actively
- panhandleGeographic arm of territory
- scavengeGather from waste
- resourcefulSkilled at solving problems
make-do · subsist · handouts · squatting · ingenuity · odd-jobs · streetwise · adaptable
Without a dwelling
- shelterlessHaving no protection overhead
- destituteUtterly without means
- dispossessedDeprived of home or land
- alleywayNarrow urban passage
shelter · pauper · indigent · down-and-out · flophouse · mission · breadline · cardboard
Marks conveying meaning
- signsDisplays conveying information
- jungleDense tropical forest
- storytellingRecounting events aloud
- outsiderOne excluded from group
vagabond
Homeless, aimless wanderer
transient · bindle · boxcar · wanderer · roadside · streetlife · campfire · jungle · hooch · rambler
trainhopping
Illegally boarding cargo trains
- boxcarEnclosed rail freight carrier
- freightGoods being transported
- railcarTrack-bound transport vessel
rails · depot · junction · siding · gondola · flatcar · railyard · switchyard · brakeman · bull
bum
Idle vagrant
layabout · deadbeat · shirker · lazybones · dosser · good-for-nothing · ne'er-do-well · wastrel · vagrant · beggar
scrounge
Obtain through begging
resourceful · make-do · subsist · handouts · squatting · ingenuity · odd-jobs · streetwise · adaptable · resilient
homeless
Without a dwelling
- shelterlessHaving no protection overhead
- destituteUtterly without means
- dispossessedDeprived of home or land
alleyway · shelter · pauper · indigent · down-and-out · flophouse · mission · breadline · cardboard · underpass
symbols
Marks conveying meaning
- signsDisplays conveying information
- jungleDense tropical forest
- storytellingRecounting events aloud
outsider · freedom · wanderlust · counterculture · bohemian
- wandererswanderer, hikers, vagabond, wanderers, drifter
- Folk Americanared barn, quilt, weathervane, covered wagon, log cabin
- folk song wordslonesome, rambling, banjo, fiddle, sorrow
- handbagspurse, purses, clutch, clutch bag, clutches
- wanderingwandering, wander, wanderer, roaming, roam
- underclasspoor, pauper, peasant, homeless, serf
hoboaristocrat
Person of noble birth
millionaire · billionaire · tycoon · magnate · the rich
hobohomeowner
Property title holder
householder · resident · property owner · landlord · homebody
hoboexecutive
Senior organizational leader
professional · company man · careerist · salaryman · commuter
- hobo bagCrescent-shaped soft purse
- hobo stewTransient's improvised potage
- boxcar hobo
- hobo clownComedic vagrant character type
- hobo stoveCan converted for cooking
- hobo jungleHomeless encampment near railways