impoverished

[ im-pov-er-isht, -pov-risht ]

adjective

1. reduced to poverty.
2. (of a country, area, etc.) having few trees, flowers, birds, wild animals, etc.
3. deprived of strength, vitality, creativeness, etc.:

   an impoverished attempt at humor.

Other Words From

• unim·pover·ished adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of impoverished¹

First recorded in 1625–35; impoverish + -ed ²

Synonym Study

See poor.

Example Sentences

The plot centers on thousands of impoverished Indian farmers who commandeer a fleet and sail, dirty, uncivilized and desperate, to France, where a small resistance is all that stands in the way from their overrunning the country.

From Salon

The residents of Piltover enjoy the privileges of life in an affluent and powerful society, one that casually oppresses the impoverished inhabitants of Zaun.

From Salon

It propelled the child of Guatemalan immigrants from an impoverished upbringing in San Diego to community activism in L.A. to stints in Sacramento as an assembly member and state senator before he landed at City Hall in 2020.

From Los Angeles Times

It was billed as a mass assault on a public health crisis that was gripping an impoverished post-war Glasgow.

From BBC

Frazier, as the Washington Post documented, was impoverished and frequently homeless.

From Salon

Related Words

• barren
• destitute
• distressed
• indigent
• needy
• poverty-stricken
• strapped