Synonyms of penury

penury

noun

ˈpen-yə-rē 

as in poverty

the state of lacking sufficient money or material possessions

lived in a time when single women like herself faced a lifetime of genteel penury

Synonyms & Similar Words

• poverty
• misery
• impoverishment
• beggary
• indigence
• destitution
• pauperism
• necessity
• poorness
• neediness
• need
• deprivation
• impecuniousness
• impecuniosity
• penuriousness
• wretchedness
• privation
• bankruptcy
• woe
• want
• exigency
• destituteness
• emergency
• gutter
• insolvency
• rainy day
• austerity
• pinching
• belt-tightening
• straitening

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• wealth
• affluence
• opulence
• richness
• prosperity
• wealthiness
• luxury

Synonym Chooser

How is the word penury distinct from other similar nouns?

Some common synonyms of penury are destitution, indigence, poverty, and want. While all these words mean "the state of one with insufficient resources," penury suggests a cramping or oppressive lack of money.

a catastrophic illness that condemned them to years of penury

Where would indigence be a reasonable alternative to penury?

The words indigence and penury are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, indigence implies seriously straitened circumstances.

the indigence of her years as a graduate student

When could poverty be used to replace penury?

In some situations, the words poverty and penury are roughly equivalent. However, poverty may cover a range from extreme want of necessities to an absence of material comforts.

the extreme poverty of the slum dwellers

How are the words want and destitution related as synonyms of penury?

Both want and destitution imply extreme poverty that threatens life itself through starvation or exposure.

lived in a perpetual state of want

the widespread destitution in countries beset by famine

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of penury

There’s a growing number of technocrats, business leaders and academics who see the current crisis in Gaza as the opportunity to confront the risk of Haredim pulling the country toward theocratic penury. —Tribune News Service, Hartford Courant, 29 Mar. 2024

The role filled him with pride—his great fear wasn’t penury or dispossession but to be thought of as not useful. —Anand Gopal, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024

Cillian Murphy is not sitting at home in monkish penury. —Vulture, 3 Feb. 2024

As a result, Pinchas never passed the Russian examination, condemning his wife and children to a life of penury. —Adam Kirsch, The New Yorker, 27 Nov. 2023

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!