窮きゅう乏ぼう

きゅ

う

ぼ

う

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 100,000

窮乏する · noun or participle which takes 'suru'

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	窮きゅう乏ぼうする	窮きゅう乏ぼうしない
Polite	窮きゅう乏ぼうします	窮きゅう乏ぼうしません
Past polite	窮きゅう乏ぼうしました	窮きゅう乏ぼうしませんでした
Past	窮きゅう乏ぼうした	窮きゅう乏ぼうしなかった
Te-form	窮きゅう乏ぼうして	窮きゅう乏ぼうしないで
Desire	窮きゅう乏ぼうしたい	窮きゅう乏ぼうしたくない
Potential	窮きゅう乏ぼうできる	窮きゅう乏ぼうできない
Passive	窮きゅう乏ぼうされる	窮きゅう乏ぼうされない
Causative	窮きゅう乏ぼうさせる	窮きゅう乏ぼうさせない
Causative passive	窮きゅう乏ぼうさせられる	窮きゅう乏ぼうさせられない
Volitional	窮きゅう乏ぼうしよう
Polite volitional	窮きゅう乏ぼうしましょう
Imperative	窮きゅう乏ぼうしろ	窮きゅう乏ぼうするな
Conditional	窮きゅう乏ぼうすれば	窮きゅう乏ぼうしなければ
Tara conditional	窮きゅう乏ぼうしたら	窮きゅう乏ぼうしなかったら

Meanings

noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru', intransitive verb

poverty; destitution; privation

Refers to a severe lack of means or necessities, especially a state of being reduced to poverty. More formal and written than everyday 貧乏.

戦せん後ご、多おおくの家か庭ていが窮きゅう乏ぼうした。
After the war, many families fell into poverty.
彼かれらは長ながい窮きゅう乏ぼうに耐たえた。
They endured long years of destitution.

Usage patterns

〈人ひと〉が窮きゅう乏ぼうするfor someone (or a group) to fall into poverty/destitution
戦せん後ご、多おおくの家か庭ていが窮きゅう乏ぼうした。
After the war, many households fell into destitution.
窮きゅう乏ぼうに苦くるしむto suffer from poverty/privation
彼かれらは長ながい間あいだ、窮きゅう乏ぼうに苦くるしんだ。
They suffered from poverty for a long time.
〈物もの〉の財ざい政せいが窮きゅう乏ぼうするfor an organization's/region's finances to become depleted
藩はんの財ざい政せいは窮きゅう乏ぼうしていた。
The domain's finances had become severely depleted.
窮きゅう乏ぼう生せい活かつを送おくるto live a life of poverty
戦せん争そう中ちゅう、人ひと々びとは窮きゅう乏ぼう生せい活かつを送おくった。
During the war, people lived lives of destitution.

Kanji

窮hard up, destitute, suffer
乏destitution, scarce, limited

Related words

貧ひん困こんN1
貧困 is the common term for poverty used in social, economic, and policy contexts, while 窮乏 more strongly emphasizes being reduced to severe want or destitution and sounds more formal and literary.
困こん窮きゅう
困窮 and 窮乏 both describe being in dire financial straits, but 困窮 is somewhat more common in modern writing while 窮乏 carries an even more formal, literary tone.
貧びん乏ぼうN2
貧乏 is the everyday, casual word for being poor, whereas 窮乏 is more formal and serious, often used in written or historical contexts.

Opposites

富ふ裕ゆう
富裕 describes being wealthy and affluent, the direct opposite of the severe poverty and want expressed by 窮乏.

Don't confuse with

窮きゅう状じょう
窮乏 specifically means poverty or financial deprivation, while 窮状 is the broader term for any pitiable, distressed condition, not only lack of money.

Word family

困こん苦く窮きゅう乏ぼう
hardships and privations; extreme poverty and suffering

Etymology

A Sino-Japanese compound written with 窮, associated with being driven to an extreme or hardship, and 乏, associated with lack or scarcity. The spelling transparently supports the sense of severe poverty or privation.