Synonyms for penury
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Noun
1. Indigence — extreme need or want; destitution, poverty; (countable) an instance of this
indigence, pauperism, poverty, destitution, privation, misery, need, lack, want, beggary, pauperization, pauperisation UK, mendicancy, moneylessness, brokeness, necessity, pennilessness
2. Barrenness — often followed by of, a lack of something; a dearth, a scarcity
Definitions
- n. 1
Extreme need or want; destitution, poverty; (countable) an instance of this.
- n. 2
Often followed by of: a lack of something; a dearth, a scarcity.
Related words
- Word family
- penurious penuriousness
Forms
- Plural
- penuries → indigences, pauperisms, poverties, destitutions…
Example sentences
- poverty The issue of Third World poverty is very pressing.
- destitution We fight to pull ourselves out of destitution.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| penury | steady | |
| poverty | rising | |
| destitution | steady | |
| indigence | steady | |
| pauperism | falling |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- need1, want1, lack1
- 6 letters
- misery3
- 7 letters
- poverty3, beggary
- 8 letters
- scarcity3
- 9 letters
- necessity4, privation3, indigence, pauperism, brokeness
- 10 letters
- barrenness, mendicancy
- 11 letters
- destitution4
- 13 letters
- insufficiency5, pauperization, pauperisation, moneylessness, pennilessness
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (misery3 = 3 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- pénurie
- Italiano
- penuria
- Deutsch
- Knappheit
- Català
- escassetat