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
But though war and disease had impoverished them, they had not forgotten the God of their fathers.
From The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, April 1844 Volume 23, Number 4 by Lewis Gaylord Clark
Having been a patriot and a money-lender, the war had impoverished him.
From In the Days of Poor Richard by Irving Bacheller
