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View synonyms for poverty

poverty

[ pov-er-tee ]

noun

  1. the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor.

    Synonyms: penury, pauperism, indigence, destitution, neediness, privation

    Antonyms: affluence, wealth, riches

  2. deficiency of necessary or desirable ingredients, qualities, etc.:

    poverty of the soil.

    Synonyms: insufficiency

  3. scantiness; insufficiency:

    Their efforts to stamp out disease were hampered by a poverty of medical supplies.

    Synonyms: dearth, paucity, shortage, inadequacy

    Antonyms: sufficiency, surfeit, abundance, glut, excess



poverty

/ ˈpɒvətɪ /

noun

  1. the condition of being without adequate food, money, etc
  2. scarcity or dearth

    a poverty of wit

  3. a lack of elements conducive to fertility in land or soil
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of poverty1

First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English poverte, from Old French, from Latin paupertāt- (stem of paupertās ) “small means, moderate circumstances.”; pauper, -ty 2
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Word History and Origins

Origin of poverty1

C12: from Old French poverté, from Latin paupertās restricted means, from pauper poor
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Example Sentences

China has made remarkable, remarkable strides in the past 20 years, lifting a half a billion people out of poverty.

The crop is so important that government insiders consider its development synonymous with the eradication of poverty in Malaysia.

Such a shift in population is likely to increase poverty and widen the gulf between the rich and the poor.

Its 2008 adoption of GM cotton for smallholder farmers was hailed as an example of how these technologies could alleviate poverty and food insecurity by protecting crops from pests and increasing yields.

From Quartz

Whether a kid faces poverty or neglect, “the way you start out in life tends to continue,” Gunnar says.

Getting men to do their share of care and domestic work is a key overlooked strategy in reducing poverty.

It demands an end to poverty and racial injustice, to which we are totally committed in our time.

The losers have always been children in poverty, children of color, and children with disabilities.

Nor do these studies address the structural and systematic issues that contribute to obesity, such as poverty and stress.

World peace, religious tolerance, and an end to global poverty, hunger, and disease.

And our views of poverty and social betterment, or what is possible and what is not, are still largely conditioned by it.

In the old world, poverty seemed, and poverty was, the natural and inevitable lot of the greater portion of mankind.

He passed the latter part of his life in poverty, and towards the close of it, was confined in a madhouse.

Seen thus poverty became rather a blessing than a curse, or at least a dispensation prescribing the proper lot of man.

Even if poverty were gone, the flail could still beat hard enough upon the grain and chaff of humanity.

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When To Use

What are other ways to say poverty?

Poverty refers to the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support. How does this noun compare to synonyms destitution and indigence? Learn more on Thesaurus.com.

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POVpoverty level