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Showing results for poverty. Search instead for Poverties.
Definitions

poverty

[pov-er-tee] / ˈpɒv ər ti /


Usage

What are other ways to say poverty? Poverty denotes serious lack of the means for proper existence: living in a state of extreme poverty. Destitution, a somewhat more literary word, implies a state of having absolutely none of the necessities of life: widespread destitution in countries at war. Indigence denotes a severely impoverished condition marked by hardship and the lack of any of life’s comforts: reduced to a life of indigence.

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.

See Examples For:

The abject poverty in a rural colonia could be something out of the most dire hollow in Appalachia.

From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2026

About 24% of people in the Valley live below the poverty line, which is more than double the national rate.

From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2026

Welsh ministers had called for changes to their borrowing rules and assurances that child poverty payments it wants to introduce would leave recipients' tax and benefits allowances unaffected.

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026

Not all Syrians can afford to make the switch to electric, with the percentage remaining negligible as most still live in poverty.

From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026

The true level of poverty among North Carolina whites during the 1960s was extreme: nearly half of the manufacturing jobs in the state were in textiles, one of the lowest-paid segments of the industry.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson


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