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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.

What seems more likely is what the Southern Poverty Law Center has said, which is, “We pay informants to do this.”

From Slate • May 4, 2026

Tubbs is the founder of End Poverty in California, a nonprofit, and serves as a special adviser to the governor on economic mobility.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026

Poverty is making people sick, and affordability is the foundation upon which we can build healthier communities.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 23, 2026

One is the welfare state launched by the War on Poverty in the 1960s.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026

Located fifty-five miles from the Ouachita site, Poverty Point had as a focus a structure resembling an amphitheater: six concentric, C-shaped ridges, each five feet tall, on a bluff facing the river.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Vocabulary lists containing poverty

Figurative Language in King's "I Have a Dream" Speech (1963)

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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

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"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act V

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