poverty
Americannoun
-
the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor.
-
deficiency of necessary or desirable ingredients, qualities, etc..
poverty of the soil.
- Synonyms:
- insufficiency
-
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
noun
-
the condition of being without adequate food, money, etc
-
scarcity or dearth
a poverty of wit
-
a lack of elements conducive to fertility in land or soil
Usage
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.
Etymology
Origin of poverty
First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English poverte, from Old French, from Latin paupertāt- (stem of paupertās ) “small means, moderate circumstances.”; pauper, -ty 2
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.
"For many, the driver is not only poverty but a lack of prospects - the feeling that there is nothing to lose," he says.
From BBC
The Country Food Trust is a food poverty charity that uses venison from deer shot on estates and farms to provide meals at 1,500 foodbanks, homeless shelters and community kitchens across the UK.
From BBC
The performance charted Lula's path from poverty as a shoeshine boy to eventually reaching the highest post in the country.
From BBC
The Department of Work and Pensions insists improving the accuracy of its statistics will not change its commitment to tackling poverty.
From BBC
Bono, 65, is well-known for his activism to eradicate poverty and fight AIDS, and has been outspoken against wars in Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza in recent years.
From Barron's
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.
