Synonyms of destitution

destitution

noun

ˌde-stə-ˈtü-shən 

as in poverty

the state of lacking sufficient money or material possessions

widespread destitution in Third World countries

Synonyms & Similar Words

• poverty
• misery
• impoverishment
• penury
• beggary
• necessity
• indigence
• pauperism
• neediness
• poorness
• deprivation
• impecuniosity
• need
• impecuniousness
• wretchedness
• penuriousness
• bankruptcy
• destituteness
• privation
• emergency
• exigency
• woe
• want
• gutter
• insolvency
• austerity
• rainy day
• pinching
• belt-tightening
• straitening

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• wealth
• affluence
• opulence
• richness
• prosperity
• luxury
• wealthiness

Synonym Chooser

How is the word destitution distinct from other similar nouns?

Some common synonyms of destitution are indigence, penury, poverty, and want. While all these words mean "the state of one with insufficient resources," 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

When might indigence be a better fit than destitution?

While the synonyms indigence and destitution are close in meaning, indigence implies seriously straitened circumstances.

the indigence of her years as a graduate student

When could penury be used to replace destitution?

The meanings of penury and destitution largely overlap; however, penury suggests a cramping or oppressive lack of money.

a catastrophic illness that condemned them to years of penury

When can poverty be used instead of destitution?

The synonyms poverty and destitution are sometimes interchangeable, but poverty may cover a range from extreme want of necessities to an absence of material comforts.

the extreme poverty of the slum dwellers

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of destitution

That means at least one in five people or households severely lack food and face starvation and destitution. —Edith M. Lederer, Los Angeles Times, 5 June 2025

All the hallmarks of American poverty — bad food, obesity and urban blight — coalesced in an apocalyptic scene of destitution and vagrancy. —Andrew Moore, New York Times, 15 May 2025

Between 1820 and 1845, the number of weavers plummeted from two hundred and forty thousand to sixty thousand, as many faced destitution. —John Cassidy, New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2025

The latest estimates, as of August 2021, put the value of Russia’s National Wealth Fund at about $185 billion and its foreign currency reserves at $615 billion—hardly a picture of destitution. —Michael Kofman, Foreign Affairs, 19 Oct. 2021