poverty

[pov-er-tee]

noun

1. the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor.

   Synonyms: penury, pauperism, indigence, destitution, neediness, privation
   Antonyms: affluence, wealth, riches

2. deficiency of necessary or desirable ingredients, qualities, etc..

   poverty of the soil.

   Synonyms: insufficiency

3. scantiness; insufficiency.

   Their efforts to stamp out disease were hampered by a poverty of medical supplies.

   Synonyms: dearth, paucity, shortage, inadequacy
   Antonyms: sufficiency, surfeit, abundance, glut, excess

poverty

/ ˈpɒvətɪ /

noun

1. the condition of being without adequate food, money, etc

2. scarcity or dearth

   a poverty of wit

3. a lack of elements conducive to fertility in land or soil

Word History and Origins

Origin of poverty¹

First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English poverte, from Old French, from Latin paupertāt- (stem of paupertās ) “small means, moderate circumstances.”; pauper, -ty ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of poverty¹

C12: from Old French poverté, from Latin paupertās restricted means, from pauper _poor

Example Sentences

The city has always been a place of economic extremes, where great wealth and poverty exist side by side.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"The region needs to grow above four percent to begin to structurally close the gaps in poverty and inequality," he warned.

Read more on Barron's

Yet the ensuing volume—which cited such landmarks in Africa as “Herds of Gazelles” and “Loose Sand”—helped spread geographic knowledge and target social problems such as urban poverty.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

PPI said the suggested reforms, taken together, would close half of Social Security’s shortfall over the next 30 years while also reducing old-age poverty.

Read more on MarketWatch

With talk of welfare queens, couch potatoes, the idle poor and a culture of poverty, the “taxpayer vs. taker” paradigm continues to play well with the GOP’s base.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• bankruptcy 
• debt 
• deficit 
• difficulty 
• famine 
• hardship 
• lack 
• scarcity 
• shortage 
• starvation 
• underdevelopment www.thesaurus.com

When To Use

What are other ways to say poverty?

Poverty refers to the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support. How does this noun compare to synonyms destitution and indigence? Learn more on Thesaurus.com.