slept rough
Bedded down outside
Slept rough is the past tense of sleep rough, meaning to spend the night outdoors without proper shelter—on streets, in parks, or in doorways.
The phrase is primarily British: He slept rough for three months before finding housing.
It describes homelessness from the perspective of the night's experience rather than the social condition.
- unshelteredHaving no overhead protection
- bivouackingTemporary open-air shelter
- campingOutdoor recreational lodging
- povertySevere lack of resources
- unhousedLacking stable housing
no fixed address · hypothermia · vagrancy · squatting · doorways · exposure · tarp · out in the cold · park bench · frostbite · unemployment · cardboard · couch-surfing · transient · scavenging · eviction · housing crisis · night shelter