Synonyms of penury

penury

noun

ˈpen-yə-rē 

as in poverty

the state of lacking sufficient money or material possessions

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

Synonym Chooser

How is the word penury distinct from other similar nouns?

Some common synonyms of penury are destitution, indigence, poverty, and want. While all these words mean "the state of one with insufficient resources," penury suggests a cramping or oppressive lack of money.

a catastrophic illness that condemned them to years of penury

Where would indigence be a reasonable alternative to penury?

The words indigence and penury are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, indigence implies seriously straitened circumstances.

the indigence of her years as a graduate student

When could poverty be used to replace penury?

In some situations, the words poverty and penury are roughly equivalent. However, poverty may cover a range from extreme want of necessities to an absence of material comforts.

the extreme poverty of the slum dwellers

How are the words want and destitution related as synonyms of penury?

Both 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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of penury

Knowing that Jane Austen never got her own Pemberley, and seeing the penury and leaking roofs portrayed, are very different things. —Kim Campbell, Christian Science Monitor, 1 May 2025

In doing so, China followed in the footsteps of other Asian countries like Japan and South Korea that had gone through penury to wealth in the postwar period through economic development and trade. —Bryan Walsh, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018

That would help ensure that our longer lives are not feared as a time of pain, penury or purposelessness, but as a treasured gift of years. —Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2025

One of Thompson’s signature innovations was to use a predictive algorithm to kick ailing and disabled Medicare patients out of nursing homes and rehabilitative programs, causing untold misery and penury. —Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 13 Dec. 2024

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