penury


Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Financial, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
Related to penury: indigence, sublime

pen·u·ry

 (pĕn′yə-rē)
n.
Extreme want or poverty; destitution.

[Middle English penurie, from Latin pēnūria, want.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

penury

(ˈpɛnjʊrɪ)
n
1. extreme poverty
2. extreme scarcity
[C15: from Latin pēnūria dearth, of obscure origin]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pen•u•ry

(ˈpɛn yə ri)

n.
1. extreme poverty; destitution.
2. scarcity or lack; insufficiency.
[1400–50; late Middle English < Latin pēnūria; akin to Greek peîna hunger, penía poverty]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

penury

extreme poverty or destitution. — penurious, adj.
See also: Poverty
-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.penury - a state of extreme poverty or destitution; "their indigence appalled him"; "a general state of need exists among the homeless"
impoverishment, poorness, poverty - the state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions
mendicancy, mendicity, beggary - the state of being a beggar or mendicant; "they were reduced to mendicancy"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

penury

noun poverty, want, need, privation, destitution, straitened circumstances, beggary, indigence, pauperism
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

penury

noun
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

penury

[ˈpenjʊrɪ] Nmiseria f, penuria f
to live in penuryvivir en la penuria or miseria
to be reduced to penuryquedarse en la miseria
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

penury

[ˈpɛnjəri] nmisère f
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

penury

nArmut f, → Not f; in a state of penuryin Armut
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

penury

[ˈpɛnjʊrɪ] n (frm) → indigenza
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
References in classic literature ?
During his early youth he had to contend against the machinations of a malignant uncle, who would have robbed him of his large possessions, and left him in black despair, to have eaten the bread of penury. His courage and understanding, however, conquered this difficulty, and at the age of fourteen he was quietly admitted to an university.
He left it on his marriage, and settled down on a small property he had near Quimper to live for the rest of his days in peace; but the failure of an attorney left him suddenly penniless, and neither he nor his wife was willing to live in penury where they had enjoyed consideration.
He must resign himself to penury; and it was worth while if he produced work which was immortal; but he had a terrible fear that he would never be more than second-rate.
Her relatives considered that the penury of her table discredited the Mingott name, which had always been associated with good living; but people continued to come to her in spite of the "made dishes" and flat champagne, and in reply to the remonstrances of her son Lovell (who tried to retrieve the family credit by having the best chef in New York) she used to say laughingly: "What's the use of two good cooks in one family, now that I've married the girls and can't eat sauces?"
During one of their walks a poor cot in the foldings of a vale attracted their notice as being singularly disconsolate, while the number of half-clothed children gathered about it spoke of penury in its worst shape.
Jos's position in life was not grand enough to entitle him to a house in Moira Place, where none can live but retired Members of Council, and partners of Indian firms (who break, after having settled a hundred thousand pounds on their wives, and retire into comparative penury to a country place and four thousand a year); he engaged a comfortable house of a second- or third-rate order in Gillespie Street, purchasing the carpets, costly mirrors, and handsome and appropriate planned furniture by Seddons from the assignees of Mr.
Poor Jurgis, who had in truth grown more matter-of-fact, under the endless pressure of penury, would not know what to make of these things, and could only try to recollect when he had last been cross; and so Ona would have to forgive him and sob herself to sleep.
Elton's notice and the penury of her conversation, rather than return to the superior companions who have always loved her with such real, generous affection."
Beauty by itself attracts the desires of all who behold it, and the royal eagles and birds of towering flight stoop on it as on a dainty lure; but if beauty be accompanied by want and penury, then the ravens and the kites and other birds of prey assail it, and she who stands firm against such attacks well deserves to be called the crown of her husband.
Besides, a big house here, and especially in this quartier perdu, proves nothing at all: it is perfectly compatible with a state of penury. Dilapidated old palazzi, if you will go out of the way for them, are to be had for five shillings a year.
Whereas, contrariwise, the close and reserved living of noblemen and gentlemen, causeth a penury of military forces.
She went dashing on for a season, but years came and money went: she sunk, at length, in difficulty and debt, disgrace and misery; and died at last, as I have heard, in penury, neglect, and utter wretchedness.