Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
penury [pen-yuh-ree] SynonymsExamplesWord Origin See more synonyms for penury on Thesaurus.com noun
- extreme poverty; destitution.
- scarcity; dearth; inadequacy; insufficiency.
Origin of penury 1400–50; late Middle English Latin pēnūria; akin to Greek peîna hunger, penía povertySynonyms for penury See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com 1. indigence, need, want.Antonyms for penury 1. wealth. Related Words for penury privation, destitution, dearth, indigence, barrenness, insufficiency, scantiness, need Examples from the Web for penury Contemporary Examples of penury
Or perhaps the plague of Strawberry Quick-flavored meth that was luring children into a life of addiction and penury.
Parents Panic Over Old Fake Smarties Snorting Craze
Lizzie Crocker
January 23, 2014
Relative obscurity and penury, her anthem claims, rule just as hard as the point-oh-oh-one percent realm of excess and access.
Duck! Reality TV Returns Us to the Dark Age of Tribal Warfare
James Poulos
December 21, 2013
Larry, it looks like traveling up the royal road you slashed through the forest of penury.
Norman Mailer
February 27, 2009
Historical Examples of penury
Formerly he had never been alarmed by the penury of his little home.
Emile Zola
Had he learned to carp at the rich, and to make honesty the excuse for all penury?
George W. Cable
If there were no penury and no pain, what would become of fortitude?
The International Magazine, Volume 2, No. 2, January, 1851
Various
The life that passes in penury must necessarily pass in obscurity.
The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. in Nine Volumes
Samuel Johnson
The Admiral had in one hour been reduced from opulence to penury.
The History of England from the Accession of James II.
Thomas Babington Macaulay
British Dictionary definitions for penury penury noun
- extreme poverty
- extreme scarcity
Word Origin for penury C15: from Latin pēnūria dearth, of obscure origin Word Origin and History for penury n.
c.1400, from Latin penuria “want, need; scarcity,” related to paene “scarcely.”