poorness

noun

Definition of poornessnext
as in poverty
the state of lacking sufficient money or material possessions each country has its own standard of poorness, and one nation's needy inhabitant can be another's fairly well-off citizen

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for poorness
  1. poverty
  2. impoverishment
  3. indigence
  4. penury
Noun
  • Our adversaries are climate change, the threat of nuclear war, hunger, poverty and disease, not China.
    — Letters to the Editor, Hartford Courant, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Well into her 90s, Huerta traveled across the country to speak about race, poverty, and women’s rights on behalf of the Dolores Huerta Foundation based in Bakersfield, California.
    — Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of poverty
Noun
  • One need look no further than the mother country, declared Benjamin Franklin, to see the twin forces of warfare-state bureaucracy and public impoverishment.
    — Jackson Lears, Harpers Magazine, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Iranian society is facing years of impoverishment and insecurity.
    — Ali Vaez, Foreign Affairs, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of impoverishment
Noun
  • His legal team also filed a separate motion requesting a public defender be assigned to his case, citing indigence.
    — Jessica Sager, People.com, 8 Mar. 2025
  • The ceaseless movement of staff around the world compounds this nebulous sensation of perpetual indigence.
    — Nick Foulkes, theweek, 7 Nov. 2024
Definition of indigence
Noun
  • Trump has squeezed tight on the island’s already ailing economy, with a de facto blockade on the importation of oil bringing Cuba to virtual penury.
    — Niall Stanage, The Hill, 20 May 2026
  • Such claims of penury, however, were difficult to square with certain facts.
    — Patrick Radden Keefe, New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2026
Definition of penury
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.

Browse Nearby Words

poor-mouths
poorness
poor-spirited
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Cite this Entry

“Poorness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poorness. Accessed 3 Nov. 2026.

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