Poverty

/ˈpɒvəti/ · noun

Meaning

The quality or state of being poor; lack of money.

Definitions by Sense

1. The quality or state of being poor; lack of money
2. A deficiency of something needed or desired

Example Sentences

get into poverty

get out of poverty

escape from poverty

From there Prince Rupert, the Royalist general and nephew of Charles I, demanded over £2,000 from the mayor of Leicester to pay the king's forces who were camped around Queniborough. The mayor, however, pleaded poverty and sent only £500.

America’s poverty line is $63 a day for a family of four. In the richer parts of the emerging world $4 a day is the poverty barrier. But poverty’s scourge is fiercest below $1.25 (the average of the 15 poorest countries’ own poverty lines, measured in 2005 dollars and adjusted for differences in purchasing power): people below that level live lives that are poor, nasty, brutish and short.

poverty of soil

poverty of the blood

poverty of spirit

Synonyms for poverty

Antonyms for poverty

Related Words

Word Forms

• poverties

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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