Definition of POVERTY

poverty

Plural: poverties

Noun

  • The state of being extremely poor or lacking resources.
  • the state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions
  • The quality or state of being poor; lack of money
  • A deficiency of something needed or desired

Examples

  • escape from poverty
  • get into poverty
  • get out of poverty
  • His rack often suffered from a POVERTY of vowels, making high-scoring words difficult.
  • poverty of soil
  • poverty of spirit
  • poverty of the blood

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English poverte, from Old French poverté (Modern French pauvreté), from Latin paupertās, from pauper (“poor”) + -tas (“noun of state suffix”). Cognates include pauper, poor.

Synonyms

impoverishment, poorness, armth, beggary, destitution, impecuniosity, impecuniousness, indigence, mendicancy, mendicity, misery, neediness, pauperism, penury, poverty, privation, reduced circumstances, slender means, straitened circumstances

Antonyms

wealth

Scrabble Score: 15

poverty: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
poverty: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
poverty: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 16

poverty: valid Words With Friends Word