"Live in the gutter" is an idiomatic expression often used to describe a state of extreme poverty, destitution, or a lowly lifestyle. This phrase carries a negative connotation and implies a situation where someone's living conditions are severely lacking in comfort, dignity, and basic necessities. The use of the word "gutter" refers metaphorically to the lowest level or the most deprived social stratum.
To "live in the gutter" typically suggests that an individual is experiencing extensive hardship, enduring miserable living conditions, struggling with extreme financial difficulties, lacking essential resources, or coping with various social challenges. It signifies a life of desperation, deprivation, or marginalization with limited opportunities for improvement.
The phrase is often used figuratively to describe someone's moral or social decline, emphasizing their degraded state or morally reprehensible behaviors. It may imply that the individual has become involved in criminal activities, engages in unethical conduct, or has succumbed to a life filled with vice, such as drug addiction or crime.
Overall, "living in the gutter" is a powerful idiom depicting a distressing existence characterized by poverty, misery, and a state of being at the bottom of society's social ladder.
