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POVERTY
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions
Synonyms:
impoverishment; poorness; poverty
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("poverty" is a kind of...):
financial condition (the condition of (corporate or personal) finances)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "poverty"):
deprivation; neediness; privation; want (a state of extreme poverty)
destitution (a state without friends or money or prospects)
indigence; need; pauperism; pauperization; penury (a state of extreme poverty or destitution)
impecuniousness; pennilessness; penuriousness (a state of lacking money)
Antonym:
wealth (the state of being rich and affluent; having a plentiful supply of material goods and money)
Context examples:
This increases if they have experienced negative situations such as sexual abuse, famine, wars and poverty early on.
(Half of mental health disorders arise in adolescence, SciDev.Net)
According to the WHO, poverty increases the risk of contracting leishmaniasis.
(Study uncovers cause of aggressive leishmaniasis strain, SciDev.Net)
He resumed—And since I am myself poor and obscure, I can offer you but a service of poverty and obscurity.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
At present she did not know her own poverty, for she had no lover to portray.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
Never mind, Harriet, I shall not be a poor old maid; and it is poverty only which makes celibacy contemptible to a generous public!
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
“You have not stood the trial and can stay here no longer. Go forth into the world, there you will learn what poverty is. But as you have not a bad heart, and as I mean well by you, there is one thing I will grant you; if you fall into any difficulty, come to the forest and cry: “Iron Hans,” and then I will come and help you.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
Certain factors that often coincide with poverty also tended to coincide with higher cotinine levels—more residential moves, unstable households with adults coming and going, low educational attainment by adults in the household, and low income.
(Infants, Toddlers at More Risk from Exposure to Second-Hand Smoke than Thought, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
Having now said enough to make his poverty clear, and to do away the necessity of buying a pair of ear-rings for each of his sisters, in his next visit at Gray's his thoughts took a cheerfuller turn, and he began to congratulate Elinor on having such a friend as Mrs. Jennings.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
They said that my uncle was a friend of theirs, that he had died some months before in great poverty in Johannesburg, and that he had asked them with his last breath to hunt up his relations, and see that they were in no want.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
“The cloud is past from my mind. Mutual confidence, so long preserved between us once, is restored, to know no further interruption. Now, welcome poverty!” cried Mr. Micawber, shedding tears.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
