unhomed
Lacking a residence
Unhomed describes someone or something that has lost or been removed from a home.
It differs from homeless in implying a prior state of being housed: The flood unhomed thousands of families.
The word appears more often as an adjective than a verb: unhomed refugees, unhomed pets.
It carries a sense of displacement rather than chronic lack of shelter.
People seeking safety elsewhere
- evacueesPeople removed from danger
- exilesBanished persons
- deporteesThose legally removed
- dispossessedDeprived of home or land
uprooted · banished · expelled · stateless · relocated · resettled · repatriated · evicted
Floating without control
- unmooredReleased from anchorage
- untetheredNot fastened to anything
- unanchoredNot fastened down
- disconnectedSeparated from a source
alienated · estranged · placeless · groundless · drifting · floating · detached · unsettled
Open to attack
- insecureLacking self-assurance
- unstableProne to sudden change
- at-riskSubject to potential harm
- marginalizedPushed to society's edges
exposed · uncertain · fragile · overcrowded · substandard · temporary
Traveling with no fixed course
- itinerantMoving for work
- migratoryRegularly moving between regions
- roamingMoving without fixed purpose
- travelingMoving from place to place
Bedouin · pastoralist · Romani · caravan · mobile · peripatetic · seasonal · yurt
Having no overhead protection
- shelterlessHaving no protection overhead
- unhousedLacking stable housing
- houselessLacking a home
- encampmentTemporary military or refugee settlement
underpass · outreach · transitional · couch-surfing · squatting · shanty
refugees
People seeking safety elsewhere
dispossessed · uprooted · banished · expelled · stateless · relocated · resettled · repatriated · evicted · ousted
adrift
Floating without control
- unmooredReleased from anchorage
- untetheredNot fastened to anything
- unanchoredNot fastened down
disconnected · alienated · estranged · placeless · groundless · drifting · floating · detached · unsettled · anchorless
vulnerable
Open to attack
marginalized · exposed · uncertain · fragile · overcrowded · substandard · temporary
wandering
Traveling with no fixed course
- itinerantMoving for work
- migratoryRegularly moving between regions
- roamingMoving without fixed purpose
traveling · Bedouin · pastoralist · Romani · caravan · mobile · peripatetic · seasonal · yurt · moveable
unsheltered
Having no overhead protection
- shelterlessHaving no protection overhead
- unhousedLacking stable housing
- houselessLacking a home
encampment · underpass · outreach · transitional · couch-surfing · squatting · shanty