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

During campaign events, Lee, who grew up in an impoverished farming household and toiled in factories as a child, spoke from behind bullet-proof glass to crowds, which were surveyed by rooftop police snipers. —Charlie Campbell, Time, 4 June 2025

Curtis’ extraordinary talent is first recognized in kindergarten, when a charitable foundation donates instruments to his impoverished public school. —Joan Gaylord, Christian Science Monitor, 29 May 2025

The thriller follows two urbane brothers who witness a baby being kidnapped from an impoverished mother at a railway station in rural India. —Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 26 May 2025

And again summer approaches and one must sift through all those spoiling invitations that inevitably come rolling in when one is an indolent (and impoverished) European aristocrat — who needs to freeload off the rich and hardworking. —James Fallon, Footwear News, 24 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1611, in the meaning defined at sense 1