scrounged
Gathered through begging
Scrounged is the past tense of scrounge, meaning to obtain something through persistent searching, begging, or improvisation—often when resources are scarce.
The word suggests resourcefulness but also a certain desperation or informality: We scrounged enough change for bus fare, She scrounged a meal from whatever was in the fridge.
To scrounge can also mean to beg or mooch from others.
Sought wild food
- scavengedCollected from waste
- salvagedRescued from destruction
- gleanedGathered incrementally
- rationedDivided into fixed shares
subsistence · sustenance · reclaimed · makeshift · hand-to-mouth · eke · hunter-gatherer · provisions
Created without prior planning
- repurposedConverted to new use
- upcycledCreatively remade from waste
- jerry-riggedCrudely assembled from scraps
- jury-riggedTemporarily fixed with scraps
makeshift · cobbled · patched · tinkered · DIY · bootstrapped · contrived · finagled
Wildly anxious or desperate
- desperateDriven by urgent need
- direExtremely serious or urgent
- urgentNeeding immediate attention
- strandedLeft without means to leave
cornered · pinched · hard-up · strapped · broke · needy · wanting · begging
Extremely lacking in money
- destituteUtterly without means
- indigentExtremely poor, lacking necessities
- pennilessCompletely without money
- deprivedLacking necessities
underprivileged · dispossessed · squalid · hungry · starving · threadbare · ragged · shabby
foraged
Sought wild food
rationed · subsistence · sustenance · reclaimed · makeshift · hand-to-mouth · eke · hunter-gatherer · provisions · scraps
improvised
Created without prior planning
- repurposedConverted to new use
- upcycledCreatively remade from waste
- jerry-riggedCrudely assembled from scraps
jury-rigged · makeshift · cobbled · patched · tinkered · DIY · bootstrapped · contrived · finagled · wrangled
frantic
Wildly anxious or desperate
stranded · cornered · pinched · hard-up · strapped · broke · needy · wanting · begging · borrowing
impoverished
Extremely lacking in money
- destituteUtterly without means
- indigentExtremely poor, lacking necessities
- pennilessCompletely without money
deprived · underprivileged · dispossessed · squalid · hungry · starving · threadbare · ragged · shabby · wanting
scroungedpurchased
Acquired through payment
bought · paid for · ordered · commissioned · earned
scroungeddonated
Gave as a gift
gave away · provided · gifted · supplied · contributed
scroungedsquandered
Carelessly used up
wasted · discarded · threw away · splurged · lavished
- scrounge upObtain with difficulty
- on the scrounge