penury

[US]/ˈpenjəri/
[UK]/ˈpenjəri/
Frequency: Very High

Translation

n. extreme poverty, lack.

Example Sentences

Hardship and penury wore him out before his time.

destitution, indigence, need, neediness, pauperism, pauperization, penury (en) - impecuniousness, pennilessness, penuriousness (en)[Dériv

The family fell into penury after the breadwinner lost his job.

The charity aims to help those living in penury.

She worked hard to lift her family out of penury.

The penury in the region was exacerbated by the recent economic downturn.

Many elderly people are living in penury due to inadequate retirement funds.

The novel depicts the protagonist's struggle to overcome penury and achieve success.

The government implemented programs to alleviate penury in the rural areas.

Despite his penury, he remained generous and kind-hearted.

The documentary sheds light on the challenges faced by those living in penury.

Education is often seen as a way out of penury for many families.

Real-world Examples

Luxury and penury have always coexisted there in uneasy tension.

Source: The Economist (Summary)

His is a world of violence, random death, corruption, hunger and penury.

Source: The Economist (Summary)

Had he stopped there, he would have faced a life on the edge of penury.

Source: The Economist (Summary)

Ashamed that she was poor and reduced to galling shifts and penury and work that negroes should do.

Source: Gone with the Wind

'Everything except this penury, ' replied Louis, unmoved.

Source: Lovers in the Tower (Part Two)

Remembering the bitter hungry days at Tara and her more recent penury, Scarlett felt that she could never eat enough of these rich dishes.

Source: Gone with the Wind

I should have wrecked and wasted in one way or another, either by penury or by luxury.

Source: News from Wuyou Township (Part 2)

By supplementing public coverage with private policies, the government hopes that people may just manage to escape penury in their old age.

Source: The Economist (Summary)

Meanwhile, the former is a high-wire act in which we fantasise generating an income from what we deeply love and yet we constantly fear penury and humiliation.

Source: The school of life

The government doesn't want to help all its citizens get out of penury, help them live a dignified life, dignified, because the salaries, salaries must be salaries.

Source: BBC Listening December 2018 Collection

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