impoverish

Synonym Chooser

How is the word impoverish distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of impoverish are bankrupt, deplete, drain, and exhaust. While all these words mean "to deprive of something essential to existence or potency," impoverish suggests a deprivation of something essential to richness or productiveness.

impoverished soil

When would bankrupt be a good substitute for impoverish?

In some situations, the words bankrupt and impoverish are roughly equivalent. However, bankrupt suggests impoverishment to the point of imminent collapse.

war had bankrupted the nation of resources

When might deplete be a better fit than impoverish?

The meanings of deplete and impoverish largely overlap; however, deplete implies a reduction in number or quantity so as to endanger the ability to function.

depleting our natural resources

When can drain be used instead of impoverish?

While in some cases nearly identical to impoverish, drain implies a gradual withdrawal and ultimate deprivation of what is necessary to an existence.

personal tragedy had drained him of all spirit

In what contexts can exhaust take the place of impoverish?

The words exhaust and impoverish are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, exhaust stresses a complete emptying.

her lecture exhausted the subject

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of impoverish 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 That a short-term judgment about what the market will bear can choke off a literary legacy and, to some extent, impoverish a culture. Mark Athitakis, The Atlantic, 10 Oct. 2024 Europeans aren’t accustomed to being told so bluntly by U.S. officials that Europe is impoverishing itself with its dirigisme, but someone had to say it. The Wall Street Journal, Twin Cities, 28 Feb. 2025 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 See All Example Sentences for impoverish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impoverish
Verb
  • Over the course of watering flower and plant containers, the soil can become depleted.
    Rebecca Jones, Southern Living, 25 June 2025
  • Once the fund's reserves become depleted, Medicare would be able to cover only 89% of costs for patients' hospital visits, hospice care and nursing home stays or home health care that follow hospital visits.
    Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 19 June 2025
Verb
  • And just like that, Donald Trump ruined something else.
    James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 26 June 2025
  • However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.
    Daniella Segura, Sacbee.com, 26 June 2025
Verb
  • Older people have been hearing about heart health from their doctors for years, and data show that smoking weed and consuming edibles can have catastrophic cardiovascular effects.
    Kevin Sabet, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 June 2025
  • The central trio of inmates in Australian writer-director Charles Williams’ first feature are each consumed with guilt for the crimes that got them here.
    Dennis Harvey, Variety, 20 June 2025
Verb
  • If your goal were to bankrupt America and destabilize the world, dragging us into another endless Middle East war would be the way to do it.
    Anna Commander, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 June 2025
  • Rather than bankrupt the federal treasury or, alternatively, pass the costs on to states and tens of millions of American families, Congress should focus on lowering costs and improving the value of American healthcare.
    Arthur L. Kellermann, Forbes.com, 12 June 2025
Verb
  • In the new workplace, don’t exhaust yourself to win over everyone.
    Naira Velumyan, Forbes.com, 17 June 2025
  • If Southern California Edison equipment is found to have sparked the blaze on Jan. 7, as dozens of lawsuits allege, the damage claims could quickly exhaust the state’s $21-billion wildfire fund.
    Melody Petersen, Los Angeles Times, 16 June 2025
Verb
  • Inflation data of late has shown little pass-through so far as companies burn off inventory accumulated in the run-up to the tariff announcement, and amid concerns that consumer demand is slowing and reducing pricing power.
    Jeff Cox, CNBC, 20 June 2025
  • Only a system designed with these principles can truly protect your organization, reduce losses and maintain trust with your honest customers.
    Marcin Nowak, Forbes.com, 20 June 2025
Verb
  • Rempe is spending this summer training in the New York area.
    Peter Baugh, New York Times, 18 June 2025
  • Most entrepreneurs spend their time trying to optimize their funnel, fix their ads or tweak their landing page.
    Rudy Mawer, Rolling Stone, 18 June 2025
Verb
  • By such maxims as these, however, nations have been taught that their interest consisted in beggaring all their neighbours.
    Mike O'Sullivan, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2025
  • The fact that not a single senior party official numbered among her copious conspirators beggars credulity.
    Charlie Campbell, TIME, 12 Apr. 2024

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Cite this Entry

“Impoverish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impoverish. Accessed 30 Jun. 2025.

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