Synonyms of poverty

poverty

noun

ˈpä-vər-tē 

1

as in misery

the state of lacking sufficient money or material possessions

he dreamed of finding a good job and working his way out of poverty and debt

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

2

as in shortage

a falling short of an essential or desirable amount or number

a poverty of information about the new policies

Synonyms & Similar Words

• shortage
• lack
• deficiency
• deficit
• famine
• scarcity
• drought
• inadequacy
• insufficiency
• absence
• paucity
• dearth
• failure
• inadequateness
• scantiness
• crunch
• lacuna
• undersupply
• pinch
• scarceness
• omission
• privation
• want
• necessity
• meagerness
• poorness
• skimpiness
• need

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• wealth
• abundance
• opulence
• adequacy
• amplitude
• sufficiency
• plenty
• plenitude
• surplus
• excess
• oversupply
• overabundance
• bountifulness
• surfeit
• copiousness

Synonym Chooser

How is the word poverty distinct from other similar nouns?

Some common synonyms of poverty are destitution, indigence, penury, and want. While all these words 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

Where would indigence be a reasonable alternative to poverty?

Although the words indigence and poverty have much in common, indigence implies seriously straitened circumstances.

the indigence of her years as a graduate student

When would penury be a good substitute for poverty?

The words penury and poverty are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, penury suggests a cramping or oppressive lack of money.

a catastrophic illness that condemned them to years of penury

How do want and destitution relate to one another, in the sense of poverty?

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 poverty

Social surrealists painted the American Dream (a phrase coined in 1931) curdling into nightmares of poverty and slum housing. —John P. Murphy, ARTnews.com, 5 Apr. 2026

The Head Start program is for children ages 3 to 5, and families with low incomes based on federal poverty levels are eligible. —Ginny Monk, Hartford Courant, 4 Apr. 2026

Pahlavi enriched himself and used American aid to fund the military while many Iranians lived in poverty. —Jeffrey Fields, The Conversation, 4 Apr. 2026

In addition to the themes Common Sense Media highlights, the Trigger Warning Database's list also includes potentially triggering events or themes, like drugging, avalanches, poverty and more. —Cody Godwin, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2026