And with the country currently in the midst of an intractable housing crisis, there’s another reason for the popularity of unhoused: the word’s root emphasizes that the problem is a structural one linked to a lack of affordable housing, not a personal weakness. But those who have adopted it say it’s for the same reasons OSL originally did: to lessen stigma and to highlight that those lacking permanent roofs over their heads may still have communities or physical spaces they consider home. While governments don’t yet widely employ it, some grassroots groups and scholars use it exclusively.Ĭritics have derided the new word as clunky and unfamiliar, potentially the product of woke virtue signaling.
Today, in mainstream articles and conversations, it’s synonymous with – and for many people, preferable to – homeless. Around 2020, the use of unhoused began growing exponentially, according to Google Trends. Adam Aleksic, a Harvard linguistics graduate who started the Etymology Nerd blog, noted its apparent first appearance on Twitter as another word for homeless occurred in October 2008. Gradually it spread among west coast professionals working with or advocating for people living on the streets, and then it made its way across the US. “They have a home: Seattle is their home.” OSL has used the word ever since to describe people lacking a fixed abode, feeling that “homeless” had gained discriminatory, ugly connotations. “I said, ‘They’re unhoused,’” remembered Graham.
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