The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word NEEDINESS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
N
E
E
D
I
N
E
S
S
More clues leading to the result NEEDINESS
- Denis seen to be wanting
- Poverty observed, going west — has food taken in
- Doctor sees end in poverty!
- Want to get seen turning over feasts
- Poverty requires adopting one national economic strategy at the outset
- Want to be seen? Dine out somewhere for a start
- Poverty seen around — has a meal to be brought in?
- Takes food into topless joints lacking quality
- Want decay with nitrogen instead of sulphur initially
- Want new date turning up over lunch with present essentially
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "poverty" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case poverty = neediness.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.