impoverish

[im-pov-er-ish, -pov-rish]

See more synonyms for impoverish on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to reduce to poverty: a country impoverished by war.
to make poor in quality, productiveness, etc.; exhaust the strength or richness of: Bad farming practices impoverished the soil.

Origin of impoverish

1400–50; late Middle English empoverishen < Middle French empovriss- (long stem of empovrir), equivalent to em- em-¹ + povre poor + -iss -ish²

Related formsim·pov·er·ish·er, nounim·pov·er·ish·ment, noun

Synonyms for impoverish

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com

2. deplete, drain; weaken, enervate, fatigue, cripple.

Antonyms for impoverish

1, 2. enrich.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for impoverish

exhaust, ruin, deplete, bankrupt

Examples from the Web for impoverish

Contemporary Examples of impoverish

These twin deficits enrich our frenemies and impoverish present and future Americans.
U.S. Closing Trade Deficit With Better Oil Numbers
Daniel Gross
June 5, 2013
Rosner seemed to think such boycotts simply serve to impoverish our knowledge of these crucial issues.
“The Invisible Men” Accused of Pinkwashing
Sigal Samuel
November 12, 2012
Their basic claim is that if government spends more now, deficits will rise, and that will impoverish our grandchildren.
Forget Stimulus, Let’s Talk Savings
Robert H. Frank
September 8, 2011
In short, deficits undertaken to finance productive investment not only do not impoverish our grandchildren, they enrich them.
Let's Start Spending
Robert H. Frank
July 20, 2010

Historical Examples of impoverish

Giving does not impoverish either her ample purse or her generous heart.
Ernest Linwood
Caroline Lee Hentz
My want cannot impoverish that inexhaustible treasury of grace!
The Faithful Promiser
John Ross Macduff
Instead of hallowing the life it will debase and impoverish it.
My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year
John Henry Jowett
And you expect me to impoverish myself for the sake of Champney Googe?
Flamsted quarries
Mary E. Waller
Each generation had done what it could to impoverish the land and never to improve it.
The Comings of Cousin Ann
Emma Speed Sampson

British Dictionary definitions for impoverish

impoverish

verb (tr)

to make poor or diminish the quality ofto impoverish society by cutting the grant to the arts
to deprive (soil, etc) of fertility

Derived Formsimpoverisher, nounimpoverishment, noun

Word Origin for impoverish

C15: from Old French empovrir, from povre poor

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for impoverish

early 15c., empoverischen, from Old French empoveriss-, stem of empoverir, from em- + povre "poor" (see poor). Related: Impoverished; impoverishing.