impoverish
[im-pov-er-ish, -pov-rish]
- 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.
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Origin of impoverish
Synonyms
See more synonyms for impoverish on Thesaurus.com2. deplete, drain; weaken, enervate, fatigue, cripple.
Antonyms
1, 2. enrich.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for impoverishment
Contemporary Examples
In the Gaza Strip, the degree of impoverishment and human suffering is dispiriting.
Historical Examples
It results in impoverishment and distortion and subsequent deficiency.
Fantasia of the UnconsciousD. H. Lawrence
Our very success has in one aspect tended to their impoverishment.
Life and Work in Benares and Kumaon, 1839-1877James Kennedy
And what had been the impoverishment of her soul under this grim discipline?
Robert OrangeJohn Oliver Hobbes
The tax-taker was the authority for the wretched creature's impoverishment.
The Letters of Charles DickensCharles Dickens
The smallness of the tribute proves the impoverishment of the land.
The Expositor's BibleF. W. Farrar
impoverish
- to make poor or diminish the quality ofto impoverish society by cutting the grant to the arts
- to deprive (soil, etc) of fertility
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Word Origin
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 impoverishment
n.
1550s; see impoverish + -ment.
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impoverish
v.
early 15c., empoverischen, from Old French empoveriss-, stem of empoverir, from em- + povre "poor" (see poor). Related: Impoverished; impoverishing.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper