impoverish
verb (used with object)
to reduce to poverty.
had impoverished
-
past perfectof impoverish.past perfect
Used to express a completed action that took place before another specific past action occurred.
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.
The suspect said the church had impoverished his family, according to police.
From Reuters ● Sep. 24, 2022
Rapid industrialisation had impoverished both English and Indian rural workers, triggering mass migrations to cities for work.
From The Guardian ● May 1, 2020
Employers could offer such meager remuneration because it was a buyer’s market: A financial crisis had impoverished many middle-class families, and experts bemoaned a surplus of single women over the age of 20.
From Slate ● Mar. 31, 2016
He had been his mother's darling; she had impoverished herself, expending all the profits of their little business to send him to college.
From The Downfall by E. P. Robins
The Government had given him a good holding in the village, and though the demands of his sons, now gray-bearded officers on their own account, had impoverished him, he was still a person of consequence.
From Kim by Rudyard Kipling
