- 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.
Impoverished Guinea has long been blighted by coups and violence from authoritarian regimes.
From Barron's • Nov. 3, 2025
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Impoverished Haiti, beset by spreading gang violence, worsening hunger and now cholera, is hemorrhaging refugees.
From Washington Post • Mar. 16, 2023
Impoverished Afghanistan is still struggling with a major debt burden and insufficient supplies, made worse after the Taliban's takeover in August.
From BBC • Jan. 17, 2022
Impoverished and marred by corruption after years of wars in the 1990s, many Balkan countries have pushed environmental issues to the sidelines.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 11, 2021
Impoverished by such legislation, the English colony itself, Protestant and all as it was, had to lower its dietary standard and cultivate the potato, or, at least, promote its cultivation by the use of it.
From The History of the Great Irish Famine of 1847 (3rd ed.) (1902) With Notices of Earlier Irish Famines by O'Rourke, John
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.
