impoverish

verb

im·​pov·​er·​ish im-ˈpä-v(ə-)rish 

impoverished; impoverishing; impoverishes

transitive verb

1

: to make poor

2

: to deprive of strength, richness, or fertility by depleting or draining of something essential

impoverisher noun

impoverishment

im-ˈpä-v(ə-)rish-mənt 

noun

Choose the Right Synonym for impoverish

deplete, drain, exhaust, impoverish, bankrupt mean to deprive of something essential to existence or potency.

deplete implies a reduction in number or quantity so as to endanger the ability to function.

depleting our natural resources

drain implies a gradual withdrawal and ultimate deprivation of what is necessary to an existence.

personal tragedy had drained him of all spirit

exhaust stresses a complete emptying.

her lecture exhausted the subject

impoverish suggests a deprivation of something essential to richness or productiveness.

impoverished soil

bankrupt suggests impoverishment to the point of imminent collapse.

war had bankrupted the nation of resources

Examples of impoverish in a Sentence

The dictator enriched himself but impoverished his people.

Poor farming practices impoverished the soil.

Recent Examples on the Web

His son visits Baghdad and Fallujah during summer vacations, puzzled by his family’s political reticence and by how his once prosperous cousins are impoverished by the sanctions regime of the 1990s. —Lisa Anderson, Foreign Affairs, 25 Feb. 2025

Removing or silencing employees who have devoted their lives to demonstrating the value of workplace diversity risks impoverishing the workplace. —Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 4 Feb. 2025

Fans of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán—a small-time autocrat who has impoverished his country, now one of the poorest in Europe, while enriching his family and friends—make common cause with Americans who have broken the law, gone to jail, stolen from their own charities, or harassed women. —Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 7 Jan. 2025

With a not insubstantial piece of Mexico’s economy reliant on production stateside, a cessation of those inflows will logically impoverish a big number of those formerly sustained directly by remittances. —John Tamny, Forbes, 4 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English enpoverisshen, from Anglo-French empoveriss-, stem of empoverir, from en- + povre poor — more at poor

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

impoverish

verb

im·​pov·​er·​ish im-ˈpäv-(ə-)rish 

1

: to make poor

2

: to use up the strength or richness of

impoverished soil

impoverishment

-mənt 

noun