impoverished

adjective

im·​pov·​er·​ished im-ˈpä-v(ə-)risht 

1

: reduced to poverty : poor

an impoverished family/community

2

: exhausted of richness or fertility

impoverished soils

3

of a fauna or flora : represented by few species or individuals

Synonyms

• beggared
• beggarly
• broke
• destitute
• dirt-poor
• down-and-out
• famished
• hard up
• impecunious
• indigent
• necessitous
• needful
• needy
• pauperized
• penniless
• penurious
• poor
• poverty-stricken
• skint [chiefly British]
• threadbare

Examples of impoverished in a Sentence

the widespread hope that the lottery's record-setting jackpot is won by an impoverished family

an impoverished field that over the years had been overgrazed

Recent Examples on the Web

Three generations of the Kim family have created a politically repressed and economically impoverished state that is nonetheless a pivotal actor on the global stage. —Foreign Affairs, 25 Feb. 2025

Now with all these things vanished, along with the bookstores and repertory cinemas, the city seems impoverished and disfigured. —Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2025

Against all odds, an impoverished but sweet-natured boy named Charlie Bucket wins a golden ticket. —Meghan Davy Sandvold, Twin Cities, 8 Feb. 2025

In an instant, the most impoverished and unstable regions of the world have seen funding dry up for basic food supplies, water, medicine, education, disaster relief — affecting the lives of millions of people. —Zachary Basu, Axios, 7 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1611, in the meaning defined at sense 1