impoverish

American  

[im-pov-er-ish, -pov-rish] / ɪmˈpɒv ər ɪʃ, -ˈpɒv rɪʃ /

verb (used with object)

1. to reduce to poverty.

   a country impoverished by war.

   Antonyms:

   enrich

2. to make poor in quality, productiveness, etc.; exhaust the strength or richness of.

   Bad farming practices impoverished the soil.

   Synonyms:

   cripple, fatigue, enervate, weaken, drain, deplete

   Antonyms:

   enrich

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impoverish British  

/ ɪmˈpɒvərɪʃ /

verb

1. to make poor or diminish the quality of

   to impoverish society by cutting the grant to the arts

2. to deprive (soil, etc) of fertility

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Other Word Forms

• impoverisher noun
• impoverishment noun

Etymology

Origin of impoverish

1400–50; late Middle English empoverishen < Middle French empovriss- (long stem of empovrir ), equivalent to em- em- ¹ + povre poor + -iss -ish ²

Example Sentences

With its outdated infrastructure, the impoverished DRC is no stranger to temporary fuel shortages.

From Barron's

In 1945 America was wealthy and powerful, Europe impoverished and weak.

From The Wall Street Journal

In 1971, he said that by “the year 2000 the United Kingdom will be simply a small group of impoverished islands, inhabited by some 70 million hungry people.”

From The Wall Street Journal

He has also spearheaded humanitarian campaigns, including the Hurricane Katrina response in New Orleans, and in Haiti after the impoverished Caribbean nation's 2010 earthquake.

From Barron's

Even if the regime doesn’t fall, it will be leaderless, impoverished, isolated, besieged, mostly disarmed.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• bankrupt
• deplete
• exhaust
• ruin