Penury

Quick meaning: Penury is a noun meaning (uncountable) Extreme need or want; destitution, poverty; (countable) an instance of this.

Meaning

(uncountable) Extreme need or want; destitution, poverty; (countable) an instance of this.

More Meanings

1. (countable, now chiefly poetic) Often followed by of: a lack of something; a dearth, a scarcity.
2. (uncountable, obsolete) The quality of being miserly; miserliness, parsimoniousness, stinginess.

Example Sentences

[W]hat prodigall portion haue I ſpent, that I ſhould come to ſuch penury?

In all labour there is profit: but the talke of the lippes tendeth onely to penury.

Chill Penury repreſs'd their noble rage, / And froze the genial current of the ſoul.

The hardship, penury and hunger of the early 1930s is etched in the collective memory of older Americans.

Word Forms

• penuries

Synonyms for penury

Depending on context, synonyms include barrenness, insufficiency, need, indigence, pauperism.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include indigence, pauperism, need, poverty, shortage, scarcity.

Related Dictionary Tools