poverty (ˈpɒvətɪ
)
Definitions
noun
- the condition of being without adequate food, money, etc
- scarcity or dearth ⇒
a poverty of wit
- a lack of elements conducive to fertility in land or soil
Word Origin
C12: from Old French poverté, from Latin paupertās restricted means, from pauperpoorSynonyms
View thesaurus entry=
pennilessness,
want,
need,
distress,
necessity,
hardship,
insolvency,
privation,
penury,
destitution,
hand-to-mouth existence
beggary,
indigence,
pauperism,
necessitousness
=
scarcity,
lack,
absence,
want,
deficit,
shortage,
deficiency,
inadequacy,
dearth,
paucity,
insufficiency,
sparsity,
Quotations
"The greatest of evils and the worst of crimes is poverty"
"Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor"
"Give me not poverty lest I steal"
"The want of money is the root of all evil"
"No man should commend poverty unless he is poor"
"People don't resent having nothing nearly as much as too little"
"Poverty is not a crime"
Translations
- British English:
poverty
Poverty is the state of being very poor....people living in poverty.ˈpɒvətɪ NOUN ...people living in poverty.
- Spanish:
pobreza
nf
- French:
pauvreté
nf
- German:
Armut
nf
- Chinese: 贫穷 n
- Arabic: فَقْر n
- Portuguese: pobreza nf
- Russian: бедность nf
- Croatian: siromaštvo nnt
- Czech: chudoba nf
- Danish: fattigdom nutr
- Dutch: armoede n
- Finnish: köyhyys n
- Greek: φτώχεια nf
- Italian: povertà nf
- Japanese: 貧困 n
- Korean: 가난 n
- Norwegian: fattigdom nm
- Polish: ubóstwo nnt
- Brazilian Portuguese: pobreza nf
- European Spanish:
pobreza
nf
- Swedish: fattigdom nutr
- Thai: ความยากจน n
- Turkish: yoksulluk n
- Vietnamese: sự nghèo đói n
Usage examples
There was very little there of the law of Christ or the vow of poverty.
, A Shrine of Murders (1993)It is easily treated with a shot of penicillin and is disease primarily caused by poverty and lack of basic hygiene facilities.
New Scientist (2004)In our first two years alone, the figures show that 200,000 people were lifted out of poverty.
Irish Times (2002)The forthcoming Welfare Reform Bill will be closely contested by everyone with a concern for poverty eradication.
Glasgow Herald (2001)The welfare state's munificence kept them at subsistence level, though their poverty bit hard.
, THE LAST PARTY: Britpop, Blair and the demise of English rock (2003)