poverty
- 01 B1 Intermediate
the state of being poor and not having enough money for basic things like food, clothes, or a home.
the state of being extremely poor, typically involving a lack of financial resources to meet basic needs. Uncountable in this general sense.
Simple“Many families in the region are living in poverty and need help from the government.”
In context“The charity's primary mission is to alleviate systemic poverty by providing vocational training and micro-loans to local entrepreneurs.”
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
a lack of something important, such as ideas, quality, or variety.
a deficiency or dearth of a particular quality or ingredient. Often used in academic or critical contexts.
Simple“The critic complained about the poverty of imagination in the new movie.”
In context“The soil's poverty of nutrients made it nearly impossible for the farmers to yield a successful crop without expensive fertilizers.”
UsageOften followed by the preposition 'of'.
Usage poverty rates
From Middle English poverte, from Old French poverté (Modern French pauvreté), from Latin paupertās, from pauper (“poor”) + -tas (“noun of state suffix”). Cognates include pauper, poor.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.