poorness

noun

Definition of poornessnext
as in poverty
the state of lacking sufficient money or material possessions each country has its own standard of poorness, and one nation's needy inhabitant can be another's fairly well-off citizen

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for poorness
  1. poverty
  2. impoverishment
  3. indigence
  4. penury
Noun
  • He was born in abject poverty in rural Georgia, Pin Point, Georgia.
    — NBC news, NBC news, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Corruption was endemic, and the country’s deeper troubles—its poverty, its social inequities, and the hopeless conditions that drive millions of Nepalis to emigrate for work—endured, laying the kindling for last year’s explosion.
    — Ishaan Tharoor, New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of poverty
Noun
  • Just as with the Romans, we peasants are treated to a spectacle to distract us from the reality of the abject impoverishment of the social safety net and the abandonment of the poor.
    — Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 15 Aug. 2026
  • Despite the tremendous fear of living in a world where Black people are dealing with impoverishment, some of the characters develop an inexorable will to fight anti-Black oppression.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 27 July 2026
Definition of impoverishment
Noun
  • His legal team also filed a separate motion requesting a public defender be assigned to his case, citing indigence.
    — Jessica Sager, People.com, 8 Mar. 2025
  • The ceaseless movement of staff around the world compounds this nebulous sensation of perpetual indigence.
    — Nick Foulkes, theweek, 7 Nov. 2024
Definition of indigence
Noun
  • Trump has squeezed tight on the island’s already ailing economy, with a de facto blockade on the importation of oil bringing Cuba to virtual penury.
    — Niall Stanage, The Hill, 20 May 2026
  • Such claims of penury, however, were difficult to square with certain facts.
    — Patrick Radden Keefe, New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2026
Definition of penury
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

poor-mouths
poorness
poor-spirited
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Cite this Entry

“Poorness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poorness. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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