Bum vs. Vagrant: What's the Difference?
Bum and Vagrant Definitions
Bum
A tramp; a vagrant.
Vagrant
One who wanders from place to place without a permanent home or a means of livelihood.
Bum
A lazy or shiftless person, especially one who seeks to live solely by the support of others.
Vagrant
(Archaic) A wanderer; a rover.
Bum
An incompetent, insignificant, or obnoxious person
The batter called the pitcher a bum.
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Vagrant
One who lives on the streets or constitutes a public nuisance.
Bum
One who spends a lot of time doing a particular recreational activity
A beach bum.
A ski bum.
Vagrant
An animal occurring beyond its normal range; an accidental.
Bum
The buttocks.
Vagrant
Wandering from place to place and lacking any means of support.
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Bum
To live by begging and scavenging from place to place. Often used with around.
Vagrant
Living on the streets or constituting a public nuisance.
Bum
To pass time idly; loaf. Often used with around.
Vagrant
Inconstant or capricious; wayward
"She was resolved to win my vagrant fancy" (Frank Harris).
Bum
(Informal) To be depressed, disheartened, or dismayed
After our team lost the championship, we were bumming.
Vagrant
Moving in a random fashion; having no fixed direction or pattern
Vagrant ice floes.
A vagrant aroma.
Bum
To acquire by begging; cadge.
Vagrant
Being beyond its normal range; accidental. Used of animals.
Bum
(Informal) To depress, dishearten, or dismay. Often used with out.
Vagrant
(dated) A person who wanders from place to place; a nomad, a wanderer.
Bum
Inferior; worthless
Gave me bum advice.
Did a bum job of fixing the car.
Vagrant
(specifically) A person without settled employment or habitation who usually supports himself or herself by begging or some dishonest means; a tramp, a vagabond.
Every morning before work, I see that poor vagrant around the neighbourhood begging for food.
Bum
Disabled; malfunctioning
A bum shoulder.
Vagrant
Vagrans egista, a widely distributed Asian butterfly of the family Nymphalidae.
Bum
Unfavorable or unfair
Got a bum deal on my final grade for the course.
Vagrant
An animal, typically a bird, found outside its species' usual range.
Bum
Unpleasant; lousy
Had a bum time at the party.
Vagrant
Wandering from place to place, particularly when without any settled employment or habitation.
A vagrant beggar
Bum
The buttocks.
Okay, everyone sit on your bum and try and touch your toes.
Vagrant
Of or pertaining to a vagabond or vagrant, or a person fond of wandering.
Bum
The anus.
Vagrant
(figurative) Moving without a certain direction; roving, wandering; also, erratic, unsettled.
Bum
A homeless person, usually a man.
Vagrant
Moving without certain direction; wandering; erratic; unsettled.
That beauteous Emma vagrant courses took.
While leading this vagrant and miserable life, Johnson fell in love.
Bum
A lazy, incompetent, or annoying person, usually a man.
Fred is becoming a bum - he's not even bothering to work more than once a month.
That mechanic's a bum - he couldn't fix a yo-yo.
That guy keeps interrupting the concert. Throw the bum out!
Vagrant
Wandering from place to place without any settled habitation; as, a vagrant beggar.
Bum
A player or racer who often performs poorly.
Trade him to another team, he's a bum!
Vagrant
One who strolls from place to place; one who has no settled habitation; an idle wanderer; a sturdy beggar; an incorrigible rogue; a vagabond.
Vagrants and outlaws shall offend thy view.
Bum
(colloquial) A drinking spree.
Vagrant
A wanderer who has no established residence or visible means of support
Bum
(dated) A humming noise.
Vagrant
Continually changing especially as from one abode or occupation to another;
A drifting double-dealer
The floating population
Vagrant hippies of the sixties
Bum
(obsolete) A bumbailiff.
Bum
To sodomize; to engage in anal sex.
Bum
To ask someone to give one (something) for free; to beg for something.
Can I bum a cigarette off you?
Bum
To stay idle and unproductive, like a hobo or vagabond.
I think I'll just bum around downtown for awhile until dinner.
Bum
To wet the end of a marijuana cigarette (spliff).
Bum
To depress; to make unhappy.
Bum
(intransitive) To make a murmuring or humming sound.
Bum
(UK) An expression of annoyance.
Bum
Of poor quality or highly undesirable.
Bum note
Bum
Unfair.
Bum deal
Bum
Injured and without the possibility of full repair, defective.
I can't play football anymore on account of my bum knee.
Bum
Unpleasant or unhappy.
He had a bum trip on that mescaline.
Bum
The buttock.
Bum
A humming noise.
Bum
To make murmuring or humming sound.
Bum
To borrow without intention of returning; to cadge; as, to bum a cigarette; to bum a cup of coffee; - usually with inexpensive items as the object.
Bum
A person who is deemed to be despicable or contemptible;
Only a rotter would do that
Kill the rat
Throw the bum out
You cowardly little pukes!
The British call a contemptible person a `git'
Bum
A disreputable vagrant;
A homeless tramp
He tried to help the really down-and-out bums
Bum
Person who does no work;
A lazy bum
Bum
The fleshy part of the human body that you sit on;
He deserves a good kick in the butt
Are you going to sit on your fanny and do nothing?
Bum
Ask for and get free; be a parasite
Bum
Be lazy or idle;
Her son is just bumming around all day
Bum
Of very poor quality
