penury

/ˈpɛnjʊɹi/

//ˈpɛnjʊɹi// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"penury" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“penury” is uncommon English (frequency #85,636 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#85,636
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Extreme need or want; destitution, poverty; (countable) an instance of this.

Corpus desk

Index EN-penury · penury · English

penury · rank #85,636 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #85,636
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH penton

Nearest frequency peer: penton (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “penury”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “penury” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for penury
PropertyValue
Headwordpenury
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpɛnjʊɹi/
Letters6
Frequency rank#85,636
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “penury” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).penuryfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “penton” (#85,635), “perdita” (#85,637), “perfidious” (#85,638). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “penury” is #85,636. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

penury is uncommon English at frequency #85,636 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpɛnjʊɹi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for penury in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Late Middle English penuri, penurie (“destitution, need, poverty; dearth, lack, scarcity”), borrowed from Latin pēnūria (“need, scarcity, want”) + Middle English -i, -ie (suffix forming abstract and collective nouns); further etymology uncertain, possi… The correct English form is penury, spelled P-E-N-U-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Extreme need or want; destitution, poverty; (countable) an instance of this.
  2. 2
    Often followed by of: a lack of something; a dearth, a scarcity.
  3. 3
    The quality of being miserly; miserliness, parsimoniousness, stinginess.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how penury appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. As he [Jesus] behelde⸝ he ſawe the ryche men⸝ howe they caſt in their offeringꝭ [offeringis] into the treſury. He ſawe alſo a certayne povre widdowe⸝ which caſt ĩ [in] thydre two mytes. And he ſaid: of a trueth I ſaye vnto you⸝ this povre widdowe hath putt in moare thẽ [then, i.e., than] they all. For they all have of their ſuperfluyte added vnto the offe…
  2. [W]hat prodigall portion haue I ſpent, that I ſhould come to ſuch penury?

Etymology

From Late Middle English penuri, penurie (“destitution, need, poverty; dearth, lack, scarcity”), borrowed from Latin pēnūria (“need, scarcity, want”) + Middle English -i, -ie (suffix forming abstract and collective nouns); further etymology uncertain, possibly related to paene (“almost, nearly; barely, hardly, scarcely”, adverb), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hate; to hurt”).

This word in other languages

pauperismo(Español)pénurie(Français)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "penury"?
"penury" is spelled P-E-N-U-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpɛnjʊɹi/.
What does "penury" mean?
As a noun, "penury" means: Extreme need or want; destitution, poverty; (countable) an instance of this.
How do you pronounce "penury"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "penury" is /ˈpɛnjʊɹi/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "penury"?
From Late Middle English penuri, penurie (“destitution, need, poverty; dearth, lack, scarcity”), borrowed from Latin pēnūria (“need, scarcity, want”) + Middle English -i, -ie (suffix forming abstract and collective nouns); further etymology uncert... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "penury", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

penton#85,635Ponton#85,658outran#85,608riband#85,711

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list