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Definitions

poverty

[pov-er-tee] / ˈpɒv ər ti /
NOUN
want; extreme need, often financial
Synonyms
STRONGEST
bankruptcy debt deficit difficulty famine hardship lack scarcity shortage starvation underdevelopment
STRONG
abjection aridity barrenness beggary dearth deficiency depletion destitution distress emptiness exiguity impecuniousness impoverishment inadequacy indigence insolvency insufficiency meagerness necessity pass paucity pauperism pennilessness penury pinch poorness privation reduction straits vacancy
WEAK
necessitousness
Antonyms
STRONGEST
abundance ease enough excess plenty profit surplus
STRONG
adequacy advantage affluence fill sufficiency wealth
WEAK
luxury richness

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.

Kino’s hypocrisy stems from the same swamp as the original’s fictitious Dr. Gröss, whose lurid footage climaxed with a tsk-tsking screed against poverty, pollution and fascism as major contributors to the global death toll.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

By mercilessly hardening her heart, Judit hopes to withstand the tribulations of poverty and betrayal.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

Pakistan is classified as a lower-middle-income country, with roughly 25 percent of its 240 million population living in poverty, as per World Bank data.

From Barron's • Apr. 2, 2026

There’s also a risk of a higher rate of elder poverty if people are unable to save what’s required, he said.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 1, 2026

After her husband, Jack, died in 1803, Ona suffered through difficult times of personal loss and poverty.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis