Absence of resources; want; privation; indigence; extreme poverty; destitution. "A penury of military forces." Bacon. They were exposed to hardship and penury. Sprat. It arises in neither from penury of thought. Landor.
Penuriousness; miserliness. [Obs.] Jer. Taylor.
98,828 entries. Headwords are matched first, then definition text.