poverty
- 1The condition of being poor; a lack of money and the material resources needed to live.
Like a well that has run dry, with nothing left to draw on.
Decades of conflict left much of the region trapped in deep poverty.
Government pension reforms were designed to reduce poverty among the elderly.
Similardestitution, hardship, deprivation, want, need
Oppositewealth, affluence, prosperity, riches
- 2A shortage or lack of something needed or desired, such as ideas, resources, or quality.
Like a library full of shelves but almost no books worth reading.
The report revealed a striking poverty of new ideas in the department.
Critics complained about the poverty of imagination in the film's sequel.
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Origin
This word comes from Middle English poverte, from Old French poverté (Modern French pauvreté), from Latin paupertās, built from pauper ("poor") plus a suffix meaning a state or condition. It is related to the words pauper and poor.