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Synonyms

poverty-stricken

American  
[pov-er-tee-strik-uhn] / ˈpɒv ər tiˌstrɪk ən /

adjective

  1. suffering from poverty; extremely poor.

    poverty-stricken refugees.


poverty-stricken British  

adjective

  1. suffering from extreme poverty

"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

Etymology

Origin of poverty-stricken

First recorded in 1795–1805

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.

He was born as Archie Leach in Horfield in 1904, and later escaped a poverty-stricken childhood to join a circus aged 14.

From BBC • Nov. 22, 2024

The decision means there will be more preventable deaths in the 17 poverty-stricken counties along Interstate 95 that constitute the Corridor of Shame, Brown said.

From Salon • Oct. 31, 2024

Porter had dropped out of junior college and entered the Baltimore police academy in 2012, hoping to restore trust in law enforcement in the same poverty-stricken neighborhoods where he grew up.

From Slate • May 24, 2024

Such vilification is proved off the mark by the fact that poverty-stricken Mississippi has relatively few homeless people.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2024

I saw few or no dilapidated houses, with poverty-stricken inmates; no half-naked children and barefooted women, such as I had been accustomed to see in Hillsborough, Easton, St. Michael’s, and Baltimore.

From "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" by Frederick Douglass