in straitened circumstances vs penurious

in straitened circumstances and penurious both are adjectives.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
in straitened circumstances	No	Yes	No	No
penurious	No	Yes	No	No

As adjectives, in straitened circumstances and penurious are synonyms defined as:

in straitened circumstances and penurious: not having enough money to pay for necessities

Other synonyms of in straitened circumstances include hard up, impecunious, penniless, pinched.

in straitened circumstances (adjective)	penurious (adjective)
not having enough money to pay for necessities	not having enough money to pay for necessities
	excessively unwilling to spend