Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
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.

This explosive, eye-opening work came from Ivy League professor Desmond moving to a trailer park and rooming house in a poverty-stricken part of Milwaukee.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2025

He was calling from a jail in Jehanabad, a poverty-stricken district and, at the time, a stronghold of left-wing extremism.

From BBC • Sep. 30, 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

I think if you take a camera into any rural area or area that's poverty-stricken, it's not gonna look pretty, but somehow we were special.

From Salon • May 19, 2024

Until 1996, there was a basic understanding that poverty-stricken mothers raising children should be afforded some minimal level of assistance with food and shelter.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

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.