🇬🇧 Penury meaning: English Vocabulary Flash Card

Penury is a very serious kind of poverty. A person living in penury does not have enough money to buy the basic things they need, like food, clothes, or a safe place to live. It means always struggling to get by, having to count every coin, and sometimes needing help from others just to survive. Penury is much worse than just being low on pocket money for a week; it is a long, hard time of having almost nothing at all.

The witch’s penury meant she could only afford a broom with three bristles, so takeoff sounded like a coughing vacuum cleaner.

The knight’s penury forced him to use a saucepan as a helmet and a pizza box as a shield—he still smelled heroic though.

I knew my backpack was in penury when I opened it and a tumbleweed rolled out during math class.

Our snack drawer’s penury was terrifying; all that remained was a suspicious raisin stuck to the corner.

Historians say some famous writers lived in such penury that they could barely afford paper—so if your notebook is full, you’re already richer in supplies than they were.

An old man sat on a cold step, his coat thin from penury, penury in every pocket. Penury had taken his small room, his warm bread, even the light in his hands. Children gave him coins; he clutched them like sunshine against penury. He smiled, grateful. For one evening, penury eased and hope warmed his face.

This word is at the C2 level, which means it represents the highest mastery of English. It’s often used in specialized or highly formal contexts and helps you communicate with precision and subtlety, much like a native speaker.

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