penury

noun

pen·​u·​ry ˈpen-yə-rē 

1

: a cramping and oppressive lack of resources (such as money)

especially : severe poverty

2

: extreme and often stingy frugality

Did you know?

The exact meaning of "penury" (from Latin penuria, meaning "want") can vary a bit from context to context. It sometimes has had a broad sense of "lack" or "scarcity," as when one character remarks on another's "penury of conversation" in Jane Austen's Emma. It can also mean "frugality," as in Edith Wharton's description of an excessively thrifty hostess in The Age of Innocence: "Her relatives considered that the penury of her table discredited the Mingott name, which had always been associated with good living." The most common sense of "penury," however, is simply "poverty," as in Shakespeare's As You Like It: "Shall I keep your hogs, and eat husks with them? What prodigal portion have I spent that I should come to such penury?"

Synonyms

• poverty
• misery

Choose the Right Synonym for penury

poverty, indigence, penury, want, destitution mean the state of one with insufficient resources.

poverty may cover a range from extreme want of necessities to an absence of material comforts.

the extreme poverty of the slum dwellers

indigence implies seriously straitened circumstances.

the indigence of her years as a graduate student

penury suggests a cramping or oppressive lack of money.

a catastrophic illness that condemned them to years of penury

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

Examples of penury in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples on the Web

But the mass of the population remained trapped in rural penury or urban favelas, while the fortunate few soared over the country’s ungovernable megacities in private helicopters. —Jonathan Tepperman, Foreign Affairs, 14 Dec. 2015

The progressivism had its roots in a southern economy that depended on agriculture and, as a result, suffered an unusual degree of penury during the Depression. —Taeku Lee, Foreign Affairs, 12 Aug. 2013

Narrating this account of her brief life, Emily provides a sharp perspective on the penury and isolation that created such anguish — and such inspiration — for the Brontë sisters. —Alida Becker, New York Times, 30 May 2025

How will the military’s top brass respond to the country’s deepening penury, which risks sparking civil unrest? —Ivan Briscoe, Foreign Affairs, 25 Feb. 2019

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin penuria, paenuria want; perhaps akin to Latin paene almost

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

penury

noun

pen·​u·​ry ˈpen-yə-rē 

: extreme poverty