- past tense form of impoverish.
- past participle of impoverish.
impoverished
Americanadjective
-
reduced to poverty.
-
(of a country, area, etc.) having few trees, flowers, birds, wild animals, etc.
-
deprived of strength, vitality, creativeness, etc..
an impoverished attempt at humor.
Synonym Usage
See poor.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of impoverished
First recorded in 1625–35; impoverish + -ed 2
Explanation
Impoverished describes being really, really poor, either from having no money or being in bad health. A person who lives on the street is impoverished, and a country may become impoverished after a devastating war. Impoverished comes from the Old French word povre, which means “poor,” and you can almost see the word poverty inside impoverished. Living an impoverished life means that your finances and health are not in good shape, and in fact you could die because you can’t support yourself. A corrupt and greedy government makes its citizens impoverished, and too much pollution will create impoverished soil that isn’t healthy enough to grow delicious vegetables.
Vocabulary lists containing impoverished
Hamilton
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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 impoverished Choco region on the Pacific coast also suffered immensely, with some of its remote communities unreachable by authorities to assess the damage.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
The Al-Khair Foundation provides emergency relief and developmental support in "some of the world's most impoverished areas", according to its website.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
UN chief Antonio Guterres cited "glimmers of hope" for Haiti in a visit Tuesday to the impoverished Caribbean nation long plagued by political, economic and security woes.
From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026
Yunus got the idea of extending tiny loans to impoverished borrowers in 1974.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
“People playing at poverty,” he had told them, because no one was impoverished anymore.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
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.
