dosser

1 9.9

A person who sleeps wherever they can because they have no home

noun
/ˈdɒsə/

: sin techo

Many dossers rely on the kindness of strangers for food and warmth during winter.

Examples

The park was filled with dossers, finding temporary shelter among the benches.
London's morgue is full of happy dossers who have shucked off this mortal coil without friend or relation to mourn or identify them.

Fiction book (1995)
He was pure thick, a dosser of the highest order.

Fiction book (1995)
MAURICE: She's getting some ear hole from that dosser now.

Secrets & Lies (1996)
He was known as a dosser, often seen sleeping in doorways and public areas.

Synonyms

homeless person

vsdosser

89 2.3

A person who has no home and often lives on the streets

focuses on sleeping wherever possible rather than on lacking a home

street person

vsdosser

14 5.6

A person without a home who sleeps outdoors or in public places

is broader and can include sleeping in any available place

rough sleeper

vsdosser

1 7.1

A person who sleeps outside because they have no home

sleeps wherever available not limited to outdoor sleeping

doser

vsdosser

Slang

9.9

A person who sleeps in temporary places without a permanent home

has identical meaning but differs in spelling

Antonyms

homeowner

205 2.5

A person who owns the house or apartment where they live

How Housed

homeowner

205 2.5

tenant

216 3.0

lodger

4 3.4

hostel

33 2.1

dosser

1 9.9

rough sleeper

1 7.1

Surface Forms

dosser singular

dossers plural

Morphology

dosser = doss (transparent) = doss + er

Formed by adding the agentive/relational suffix '-er' to the verb 'doss' (to sleep or use cheap lodging), so the meaning 'one who dosses / sleeps wherever they can' follows directly.

Etymology

The word dosser comes from the British word doss, meaning 'to sleep', and from doss-house, a cheap place to sleep. A helpful way to remember it is to think of doze, which means 'to sleep', so a dosser is someone who sleeps wherever they can.