Definition of "penury" in Anglais

noun

1. (uncountable) Extreme need or want; destitution, poverty; (countable) an instance of this.

2. (countable, now chiefly poetic) Often followed by of: a lack of something; a dearth, a scarcity.

3. (uncountable, obsolete) The quality of being miserly; miserliness, parsimoniousness, stinginess.