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Synonyms

impoverished

American  
[im-pov-er-isht, -pov-risht] / ɪmˈpɒv ər ɪʃt, -ˈpɒv rɪʃt /

adjective

  1. reduced to poverty.

  2. (of a country, area, etc.) having few trees, flowers, birds, wild animals, etc.

  3. deprived of strength, vitality, creativeness, etc..

    an impoverished attempt at humor.

Related Words

See poor.

Other Word Forms

  • unimpoverished adjective

Etymology

Origin of impoverished

First recorded in 1625–35; impoverish + -ed 2

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Caers says that KoBold is best positioned to put the Congolese archives online and bring investment to the impoverished country.

From The Wall Street Journal

With its outdated infrastructure, the impoverished DRC is no stranger to temporary fuel shortages.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

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.