penury

From Latin penuria (“want”), related to paene (“scarcely”), c. 1400. Compare French pénurie.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɛnjʊɹi/, /ˈpɛnjəɹi/

penury (usually uncountable, plural penuries)

1. Extreme want; poverty; destitution.
   • 2009 April 18, Oliver Kamm, “The recession explained”, in The Times Online‎:

     The hardship, penury and hunger of the early 1930s is etched in the collective memory of older Americans.

2. A lack of something; a dearth.

   Synonyms: barrenness, insufficiency

   • 1855, Robert Browning, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”, XI:

     No! penury, inertness and grimace, / In some strange sort, were the land's portion. [...]

• penurious

• pruney