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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of penury That would help ensure that our longer lives are not feared as a time of pain, penury or purposelessness, but as a treasured gift of years. Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2025 One of Thompson’s signature innovations was to use a predictive algorithm to kick ailing and disabled Medicare patients out of nursing homes and rehabilitative programs, causing untold misery and penury. Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 13 Dec. 2024 Still, the movement to end dependency and penury in old age gathered force and triumphed with the enactment of Social Security in 1935, the crowning achievement of the New Deal. Jonathan Rauch, The Atlantic, 10 Dec. 2024 Anderson renders her character’s slow descent into virtual penury and laudanum addiction a genuinely heartrending experience, and her late-in-the-film breakdown about her uselessness stands as one of the decade’s great acting feats. Indiewire Staff, IndieWire, 12 Aug. 2024 See All Example Sentences for penury

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Cite this Entry

“Penury.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/penury. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.

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