Meaning & use
poverty
The state of lacking sufficient money or material resources to meet basic needs.
See it in a sentence
Millions of families around the world still live in extreme poverty.
The charity works to reduce poverty by funding schools and clean water projects.
A note on using this word
Poverty can be used literally for financial hardship or figuratively, as in "poverty of imagination," meaning a notable lack of a quality.
Words with a similar meaning
destitutionwant
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
wealthaffluence
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