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Definition of penury noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

penury

noun
 
/ˈpenjəri/
 
/ˈpenjəri/
[uncountable] (formal)
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  1. the state of being very poor synonym poverty
    • He died in penury.
    • They were reduced to penury.
    Topics Social issuesc2
    Word Originlate Middle English: from Latin penuria ‘need, scarcity’; perhaps related to paene ‘almost’.
See penury in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
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