noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
General-American:/dɛstɪˈtuːʃən/
Received-Pronunciation:/dɛstɪˈtjuːʃən/
Received-Pronunciation:/dɛstɪˈtʃuːʃən/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -uːʃən
CMU ARPABET:D EH1 S T AH0 T UW2 SH AH0 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The action of deserting or abandoning.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, obsolete, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Discharge from office; dismissal.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
The condition of lacking something.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
An extreme state of poverty, in which a person is almost completely lacking in resources or means of support.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: indigence
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
a state without friends or money or prospects
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: poverty, poorness, impoverishment
History
Etymology
From Old French destitution, from Latin dēstitūtiō (“abandoning”), from dēstituō.
Across languages
Translations
36 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Dutch:
ontbering
— condition of lacking something
Finnish:
puute
— condition of lacking something
French:
dénuement
— condition of lacking something
Irish:
díothacht
— condition of lacking something
Portuguese:
destituição
— condition of lacking something
Scottish Gaelic:
airc
— condition of lacking something
Spanish:
inopia
— condition of lacking something
Bulgarian:
мизерия
(mizerija)
— extreme state of poverty
Catalan:
indigència
— extreme state of poverty
Dutch:
berooidheid
— extreme state of poverty
Dutch:
armoede
— extreme state of poverty
Finnish:
varattomuus
— extreme state of poverty
Finnish:
äärimmäinen köyhyys
— extreme state of poverty
French:
indigence
— extreme state of poverty
German:
Armut
— extreme state of poverty
Greek:
ένδεια
(éndeia)
— extreme state of poverty
Greek:
απορία
(aporía)
— extreme state of poverty
Hindi:
कंगाली
(kaṅgālī)
— extreme state of poverty
Hungarian:
mélyszegénység
— extreme state of poverty
Irish:
díothacht
— extreme state of poverty
Māori:
tuakokatanga
— extreme state of poverty
Navajo:
téʼéʼį́
— extreme state of poverty
Persian:
فلاکت
(felâkat)
— extreme state of poverty
Portuguese:
penúria
— extreme state of poverty
Portuguese:
indigência
— extreme state of poverty
Russian:
нужда́
(nuždá)
— extreme state of poverty
Russian:
нищета́
(niščetá)
— extreme state of poverty
Scots:
puirtith
— extreme state of poverty
Scottish Gaelic:
airc
— extreme state of poverty
Spanish:
indigencia
— extreme state of poverty
Spanish:
inopia
— extreme state of poverty
Swahili:
ufukara
— extreme state of poverty
Swedish:
armod
— extreme state of poverty
Ottoman Turkish:
یوقسوللق
(yoksulluk)
— extreme state of poverty
Ukrainian:
злидні
(zlydni)
— extreme state of poverty
Ukrainian:
вбогість
(vbohistʹ)
— extreme state of poverty
