as in poverty
the state of lacking sufficient money or material possessions
too many people are homeless and living in shameful beggary in this country
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 beggary
Hence his need to construct an elaborate scheme of beggary that seems to have involved the bills being paid initially by the Cabinet office, then by the Conservative Party, then by a private donor, and finally, and only after the whole affair became a political embarrassment, by Johnson himself.
—
Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 13 May 2021
Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 13 May 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for beggary
Noun
-
Across the Americas – the most murderous region in the world – the average life expectancy of a trans woman is just 35 years old, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which attributes the frequency of early death to compounding violence, poverty and social exclusion.—
Ladan Anoushfar,
CNN Money,
6 Aug. 2025
-
Of course, Buckley was lying through his teeth: Almost half of all Black Americans were living in poverty.—
Andrea Long Chu,
Vulture,
5 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Their relative misery even exceeds that of the Afghans and Iraqis.—
John Tamny,
Forbes.com,
30 July 2025
-
Hungry people would not then have uploaded the image of the couple to TikTok, Twitter and Instagram, and all the other unfettered, unedited sites that traffic in human misery.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
18 July 2025
Noun
-
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
Cite this Entry
“Beggary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/beggary. Accessed 12 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share