penury

C2+ Topic:Social Issues & Human Rights

US /ˈpɛnjəri/ UK /ˈpɛnjʊri/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
extreme poverty or destitution

The artist lived in penury until late in life.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · extreme poverty or destitution destitution poverty indigence privation want beggary impoverishment

Opposites

wealth affluence opulence abundance

Word family

Derived forms penurious

Related forms penurious

Etymology

From Latin penuria ('want, scarcity, need'), of uncertain ultimate origin, perhaps related to paene ('almost').

penuria Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Social Issues & Human Rights Word Formation & Derivatives

# penury

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈpɛnjəri
**IPA (UK):** ˈpɛnjʊri

## Meanings
1. extreme poverty or destitution

## Examples
- The artist lived in penury until late in life.

## Synonyms
- destitution
- poverty
- indigence
- privation
- want
- beggary
- impoverishment

## Antonyms
- wealth
- affluence
- opulence
- abundance

## Derived Forms
- penurious

## Related Forms
- penurious

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: penuria

## Etymology
From Latin penuria ('want, scarcity, need'), of uncertain ultimate origin, perhaps related to paene ('almost').

## AI Etymology
Penury comes from Latin penuria ('want, scarcity, need'), of uncertain ultimate origin, perhaps related to paene ('almost'). The etymological trail includes Latin penuria. As a noun, penury means extreme poverty or destitution. The same family is visible in derived forms such as penurious and related forms such as penurious. The uncertainty belongs to the older derivation, so the explanation should preserve alternatives rather than choosing one unsupported origin.

## Topics
- Social Issues & Human Rights
- Word Formation & Derivatives

markdown

penury

Meanings

Thesaurus

Etymology

Topics

Keyboard Shortcuts

General

Send feedback