赤せき貧ひん

noun, noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'

extreme poverty; destitution

A strong, somewhat literary term for utter poverty, often used in fixed expressions like 赤貧洗うがごとし (penniless, as if washed clean).

• 彼かれは赤せき貧ひんの中なかから身みを起おこした。

  He rose from extreme poverty.

• 赤せき貧ひん洗あらうがごとき生せい活かつを送おくっていた。

  He lived in abject poverty, as if washed clean of all possessions.