Basically homeless

: having no home or permanent place of residence : unhoused Examples of homeless in a Sentence Recent Examples on the Web Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback. She was arrested for sleeping outside while homeless. —Matt Mahan, The Mercury News, 7 Mar. 2025 Other must reads How a law to ban homeless encampments threw a California city into chaos. —Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2025 The city of Fullerton will begin enforcing stricter anti-camping rules, prohibiting homeless individuals from sitting, lying or sleeping in public spaces or storing their property on sidewalks and similar public spaces. —Jonathan Horwitz, Orange County Register, 7 Mar. 2025 Infections have now spread to workers cleaning restrooms used by the homeless population, as many people who already have dysentery are not going to the hospital, and are continuing to use restrooms in homeless shelters. —Tommy Tuberville, Newsweek, 6 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for homeless Word History First Known Use before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above Time Traveler The first known use of homeless was before the 12th century Browse Nearby Words Cite this Entry “Homeless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, Accessed 13 Mar. 2025. Share More from Merriam-Webster on homeless Last Updated: 11 Mar 2025 - Updated example sentences Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! Merriam-Webster unabridged

Washington Democrats introduced another controversial bill that prevents cities and towns from limiting or banning homeless encampments, effectively legalizing them on public property statewide. Worse, it provides special legal advantages to homeless individuals, virtually guaranteeing court victories for those who challenge encampment restrictions.House Bill 1380, sponsored by State Rep. Mia Gregerson (D-SeaTac), restricts cities or towns to only regulate encampments on public spaces in ways deemed by a judge to be “objectively reasonable as to time, place, and manner.” This vague and subjective standard would even apply retroactively, potentially invalidating ordinances passed before this legislation existed.Under the bill, a homeless individual could sue a city or town over an encampment restriction and seek injunctive or declaratory relief. Homeless plaintiffs are also granted an affirmative defense, arguing the restriction is not reasonable. If the city or town loses the case, taxpayers would be forced to cover the plaintiffs’ attorney’s fees.More from Jason Rantz: Democrats embrace sanctuary status as law gives illegal immigrants unemployment benefitsHow does this homeless encampment bill stop cities from enforcing restrictions?It’s clear how this vague and poorly constructed law could discourage cities or towns from implementing bans or restrictions on homeless encampments.Gregerson, who has openly argued that homeless individuals have a right to camp wherever they choose, would deem most such laws unreasonable. The legislation’s lack of clarity intentionally invites inconsistent enforcement; the same law could be interpreted differently depending on the judge presiding over the case.Even if one judge sides with a city, another judge handling a challenge to the same law by a different plaintiff could easily rule the opposite way, leaving cities in perpetual legal limbo.More from Jason Rantz: Here’s what left-wing media choose to ignore after Jan. 6 mass pardons, commutationsA bill that’s intentionally vague to help homeless live in encampmentsThe bill fails to define what qualifies as “objectively reasonable,” likely because the concept itself is entirely subjective when applied to laws restricting encampments.However, it explicitly instructs courts to consider the impact of such laws on the homeless when determining their reasonableness. The bill even provides a built-in defense for the homeless, allowing them

Seattle asked to helpSome small business owners impacted by the encampment complain about the trash and human waste at the homeless encampment. When it rains, gas, oil, feces and urine runoff hits their property.Suarez says the homeless men and women at the Mercer encampment have not been offered any real housing or detox options. It’s why a local business group contacted We Heart Seattle for help. Anecdotally, they’re more effective in connecting the homeless with resources.“And we were contacted, because we believe and they believe, (the homeless will) just be moved around the the corner. Looks like we’re just herding people around the block. They know it, the city knows it, because not everybody is willing to accept some form of housing or treatment, and why a different approach of outreach is critical,” Suarez said. “We should have 100 people right now on the block, providing kind of like a family friend, life coach, advocate-sponsored type of one-on-one advocacy for each of these 17 people here and walk them out of this mess. It’s a very intensive outreach model, daily boots on the ground and daily hyperlocal outreach every day all day long to help these folks. And we’re not seeing it.”Jason Rantz content: UW study dismisses drug concerns to protect transit, harm reduction advocatesGetting Seattle homeless to treatmentThis is where Suarez and her volunteers fill the gaps, providing the intensive outreach the city won’t or can’t do.For example, We Heart Seattle connected with a homeless man named Theo. Suarez was able to track down Theo’s grandparents, who agreed to pay for a three-month detox program called Battlefield Addiction.“It’s $5,000 a month. But that’s part of what we use our donations for,” Suarez explained. “And also we engage with family to help pay for it, as well. This is not a model of outreach that is adopted by our taxpayer dollars. And we’re trying to get that switched.”Not everyone is willing to accept services, a consequence of “harm reduction” and “housing first” models where city staff or city-supported non-profits offer few consequences to the homeless. Instead, the homeless are given clean needles or fentanyl pipes and are allowed to camp out for months wherever they’d like as the city waits for space in homeless hotels or permanent supported housing.Harm reduction and housing first do not workSeattle’s adopted models do not work. It’s why the homeless crisis has gotten worse, not better, over the last decade.Harm reduction is a strategy that is supposed to mitigate the effects of illicit substance abuse to keep an addict alive long enough to get treatment. But harm reduction advocates eschew treatment, arguing that it’s stigmatizing to tell an addict there is anything wrong with their

A large, festering Seattle homeless encampment bordering the Seattle Center and Seattle Opera will finally face a sweep this week. But the homeless addicts living there explain they haven’t been offered meaningful assistance by the city.Tents have lined Mercer Street at Warren Avenue for at least three months. Now, it houses at least 17 men and women, mostly drug addicts who use fentanyl. They say they have asked for help, with a handful actually willing to accept it.But Andrea Suarez, the executive director of private homeless outreach group We Heart Seattle, tells the Jason Rantz Show on KTTH she spoke with everyone living at the crowded homeless encampment. They say they’re not being given the help they need.“So, we understand that REACH has been out here or the Unified Care Team (UCT), to a degree. But the feedback we’re getting is that nobody has been offering anybody actual pathways out, like detox,” Suarez exclusively told the Jason Rantz Show on KTTH. “We have several people willing to hop in our car, go to (detox facilities). We are in contact with people’s families. their children, their grandparents.”More from Jason Rantz: Seattle restaurant owner ‘lost all faith’ in city after 23rd break-inWhen will the Seattle homeless encampment finally get cleared?A spokesperson for UCT confirmed to the Jason Rantz Show the encampment will be removed this week, but did not provide a specific day, as is their policy.“Outreach providers are actively engaging at the site to connect individuals to shelter and service resources, and all individuals residing onsite on the day removal notice is posted will receive an offer for alternative shelter,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “In the lead-up to site resolution, UCT has been providing trash mitigation multiple times per week and addressing accessibility concerns such as obstructed sidewalks and building entrances, in addition to removing public health and safety hazards like propane tanks. A full cleaning of this site will be completed on the day of removal and UCT will closely monitor the area in an effort to prevent repopulation.”The encampment is littered with purple trash bags provided by the city of Seattle as part of its outreach efforts. The Purple Bag program, championed by Socialist Seattle City Council member and anti-sweep activist Tammy Morales, has primarily failed, says Suarez. The bags are merely left by tents for the homeless to fill with trash and drop off for pickup. But they don’t get used and become more garbage needing to be picked up.Meanwhile, anti-sweep activist groups offer their “help” by dropping off plants for the homeless to care for. The plants end up dying and becoming trash to fill the purple bags with.Private Seattle homeless outreach group We Heart