Penury: meaning, pronunciation and examples
Penury noun. Extreme poverty.
How to say it
PEN-yoo-ree/ˈpɛnjʊri/
3 syllables, stressed on the first (PEN).
Penury in a sentence
The composer died in penury, his manuscripts sold for scrap.
A run of bad harvests reduced the farm to penury.
Similar and opposite
Similar:
- destitution
- poverty
- want
- indigence
Opposite:
- wealth
- affluence
- plenty
Where penury comes from
From Latin penuria, want or scarcity.
Test yourself
Which word fills the gap?
A run of bad harvests reduced the farm to _____.
- penury
- remuneration
- emolument
Show the answer
penury: A run of bad harvests reduced the farm to penury.