noun
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extreme poverty
-
extreme scarcity
Etymology
Origin of penury
1400–50; late Middle English < Latin pēnūria; akin to Greek peîna hunger, penía poverty
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In California, 5.5 million residents, including 2 million children, will be forced deeper into penury.
From Los Angeles Times
The AAU’s dictatorial control forced athletes into penury and enriched its leaders.
He faced agony abroad, then penury in his adopted home.
From Seattle Times
"Independence, I think, means penury for Wales, not success."
From BBC
If you're willing to force poor elderly people into even worse penury than they already are, you are their kind of gal.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
