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

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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 impoverishment

hardship, insolvency, privation, famine, depletion, scarcity, starvation, distress, lack, dearth, vacancy, deficiency, want, pass, need, emptiness, bankruptcy, inadequacy, indigence, reduction

Examples from the Web for impoverishment

Contemporary Examples of impoverishment

In the Gaza Strip, the degree of impoverishment and human suffering is dispiriting.
Old Problems and New Realities
Ahmed Moor
November 22, 2012

Historical Examples of impoverishment

It results in impoverishment and distortion and subsequent deficiency.
Fantasia of the Unconscious
D. H. Lawrence
Our very success has in one aspect tended to their impoverishment.
Life and Work in Benares and Kumaon, 1839-1877
James Kennedy
And what had been the impoverishment of her soul under this grim discipline?
Robert Orange
John Oliver Hobbes
The tax-taker was the authority for the wretched creature's impoverishment.
The Letters of Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
The smallness of the tribute proves the impoverishment of the land.
The Expositor's Bible
F. W. Farrar

British Dictionary definitions for impoverishment

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 impoverishment

1550s; see impoverish + -ment.

impoverish

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