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.
A humanitarian charity is urging people to craft reusable period pads, in solidarity with women and girls across the world facing period poverty.
From BBC
A longstanding taboo in Chinese culture against used goods, seen as unclean or a shameful sign of poverty, is lifting rapidly.
From Barron's
He focused instead on attacking the root causes of crime, including poverty and scant opportunities for the young.
From Los Angeles Times
By the end of the 22nd century, death and destruction caused by AI give way to an Earth free of poverty, hunger, disease, and war.
From Barron's
South Sudan, the world's youngest country, has been beset by civil war, poverty and corruption since it was formed in 2011.
From BBC
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.
