penury suggests a cramping or oppressive lack of money.
a catastrophic illness that condemned them to years of penury
want and destitution imply extreme poverty that threatens life itself through starvation or exposure.
lived in a perpetual state of want
the widespread destitution in countries beset by famine
Example Sentences
He was born in poverty. There is a poverty of information about the disease.
Recent Examples on the WebIn Prince George's County, Maryland, where there's a high concentration of poverty, at least 8 percent of the public school district's teacher slots are vacant, more than twice as many as last year, according to the teachers union. Gabe Cohen, CNN, 31 Aug. 2022 In response to a public callout from MuckRock, one parent in Mount Pleasant, Monica Rosen, said that paying for her daughter’s preschool pushed her family to the brink of poverty. Luca Powell And Derek Kravitz, Detroit Free Press, 28 Aug. 2022 The levels of poverty here is what makes the area such a wellspring for ISIS and Al Qaeda recruits. Kevin Maurer, Rolling Stone, 28 Aug. 2022 The rise of China as the world’s factory lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty worldwide and deluged consumers with cheap goods. Andrew Van Dam, Washington Post, 26 Aug. 2022 Many of these are designating significant dollars to census tracts with high rates of poverty. Talis Shelbourne, Journal Sentinel, 23 Aug. 2022 The Augustinian friars of Medieval Britain pledged themselves to a life of poverty, but their friaries offered a pretty high standard of communal living. Brian Handwerk, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Aug. 2022 Oftentimes, women, and Black women in particular, are cast off as welfare queens, and the holistic view of who and what their needs are, and their desire to come up out of poverty, are not shared in the best manner possible. Rayna Reid Rayford, Essence, 18 Aug. 2022 Investing in a girl's education through high school is the best way to lift her and her future children out of poverty. Sarah Ferguson, Forbes, 18 Aug. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English poverte, from Anglo-French poverté, from Latin paupertat-, paupertas, from pauper poor — more at poor
ADJECTIVE | VERB + POVERTY | POVERTY + NOUN | PREPOSITION | PHRASESADJECTIVE➤abject, absolute, extreme, grinding, severe極其貧窮;赤貧;一貧如洗▸➤widespread普遍的貧窮▸➤global, world全球/世界性貧困▸➤rural, urban鄉村的貧困狀況;城市貧窮問題▸➤child貧困兒童的問題VERB + POVERTY➤alleviate, combat, fight, reduce緩解貧困;與貧困作鬥爭;扶貧▸➤eliminate, end, eradicate消滅貧困◇a plan to eradicate urban poverty一項消除城市貧困的計劃➤escape擺脫貧困◇his struggle to escape the grinding poverty of his childhood他為擺脫童年時期的極度貧困而作的掙扎POVERTY + NOUN➤trap貧困陷阱(指領政府津貼的窮人因工資增加而津貼相應減少,無法改善經濟狀況)◇Caught in the poverty trap, they are unable to save money for business ventures.工資增加,政府津貼就減少,他們身陷貧困陷阱,無法存錢辦公司。➤rate貧困率➤reduction扶貧PREPOSITION➤in poverty處於貧窮之中◇Most of the population lives in grinding poverty.大多數的人口生活貧困。➤poverty among⋯之中的貧窮◇the true extent of poverty among the unemployed失業者實際的貧窮程度➤poverty of缺乏◇His work displays a poverty of imagination.他的作品缺乏想像力。PHRASES➤above/below/under the poverty level, above/below/under the poverty line在貧困線之上/之下◇families living below the poverty line / level生活在貧困線以下的家庭➤at the poverty level, at the poverty line, on the poverty line (BrE) 處於貧困線水平