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 of impoverished

• poor
• broke
• beggared
• deprived
• bankrupt

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

East Palo Alto, the historically Black community surrounding the Meta campus, is one of the least gentrified, most impoverished places in the Valley—a 2017 study found that 42 percent of students in the local school district were homeless. —Literary Hub, 21 Nov. 2025

Based on Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, Hamnet follows impoverished Latin tutor William Shakespeare (Mescal) and free-spirited Agnes (Buckley). —Erik Pedersen, Deadline, 20 Nov. 2025

Before long, many people from the samurai class became impoverished, and the gap between classes increased. —Caroline Blair, PEOPLE, 17 Nov. 2025

The app is used by national parks, firefighting units, carbon credit projects and forestry companies, many of which operate in rural, impoverished or underserved communities. —Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1611, in the meaning defined at sense 1