pauperism C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities US /ˈpɔpərɪzəm/ UK /ˈpɔːpərɪzəm/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun the state of being extremely poor, especially as a widespread condition Victorian reformers debated the causes of urban pauperism. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · the state of being... povertydestitutionindigencepenurybeggary ↔ Opposites affluencewealthprosperity Word family Related forms pauperpauperizepauperization Etymology AI details From pauper + the suffix -ism. Pauper is borrowed from Latin pauper ('poor'). pauper Latin View etymology graph -> Topics Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # pauperism **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈpɔpərɪzəm/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈpɔːpərɪzəm/ ## Meanings 1. the state of being extremely poor, especially as a widespread condition ## Examples - Victorian reformers debated the causes of urban pauperism. ## Synonyms - poverty - destitution - indigence - penury - beggary ## Antonyms - affluence - wealth - prosperity ## Related Forms - pauper - pauperize - pauperization ## Roots and Affixes - Root: pauper ## Etymology From pauper + the suffix -ism. Pauper is borrowed from Latin pauper ('poor'). ## AI Etymology Pauperism is from pauper + the suffix -ism. Pauper is borrowed from Latin pauper ('poor'). Important recorded forms include pauper (Latin). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense remains close to that composition, with the parts narrowing into a single lexical item. In current use it covers the state of being extremely poor, especially as a widespread condition. The wider family includes related words such as pauper, pauperize, and pauperization. ## Topics - Describing Qualities - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown