penury suggests a cramping or oppressive lack of money.
a catastrophic illness that condemned them to years of penury
want and destitution imply extreme poverty that threatens life itself through starvation or exposure.
lived in a perpetual state of want
the widespread destitution in countries beset by famine
Examples of poverty in a Sentence
He was born in poverty.
There is a poverty of information about the disease.
Recent Examples on the WebThis rural county of 1,100 people has no hospitals, one of the highest poverty rates in the country, and 1 in 4 babies is born weighing less than 5 pounds 8 ounces.—Jeremy Ney, TIME, 9 Apr. 2024 His policies haven’t come without consequence: One study found that the poverty rate reached 57%, the highest it’s been in two decades.—Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald, 8 Apr. 2024 But the expansion expired at the end of 2021, and child poverty rates jumped back up after that.—Jacob Bogage, Washington Post, 6 Apr. 2024 Those subsidies are limited to people who earn up to four times the federal poverty level - or $60,240 this year for an individual.—Ken Alltucker, USA TODAY, 4 Apr. 2024 Kansas is one of just 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, which allowed adults with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $43,000 a year for a family of four, to qualify for the program.—Noah Weiland, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2024 Likewise, the cost of living is lowest in states including Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Alabama, and yet these states fall in the national rankings due to factors such as higher senior poverty rates and Medicare spending.—Hallie Milstein, Southern Living, 3 Apr. 2024 Dixie Canyon had 610 students last year and a poverty rate of about 25%.—Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2024 My journey, from growing up in poverty to becoming a multimillion-dollar entrepreneur and life coach, is a testament to this.—Angela Quach, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'poverty.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Middle English poverte, from Anglo-French poverté, from Latin paupertat-, paupertas, from pauper poor — more at poor
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