Synonyms of impoverished

impoverished 1 of 2

adjective

im-ˈpä-v(ə-)risht 

1

as in poor

lacking money or material possessions

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• poor
• broke
• beggared
• deprived
• bankrupt
• needy
• poverty-stricken
• indigent
• penniless
• destitute
• dirt-poor
• pauperized
• impecunious
• needful
• bankrupted
• depressed
• down-and-out
• penurious
• famished
• beggarly
• necessitous
• disadvantaged
• out of pocket
• threadbare
• out at elbows
• distressed
• hard up
• skint
• out at the elbows
• underprivileged
• dispossessed
• ruined
• down on one's luck
• insolvent
• reduced
• unaffluent
• hardscrabble
• busted
• pinched
• short
• poorish
• cash-strapped
• bust
• straitened
• hand-to-mouth
• possessionless
• low
• tapped out

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• wealthy
• affluent
• rich
• well-to-do
• moneyed
• opulent
• monied
• fat
• flush
• well-off
• prosperous
• comfortable
• well-heeled
• fat-cat
• silk-stocking
• deep-pocketed

2

as in desolate

producing inferior or only a small amount of vegetation

an impoverished field that over the years had been overgrazed

Synonyms & Similar Words

• desolate
• barren
• poor
• bleak
• waste
• hardscrabble
• unproductive
• infertile
• unfertile
• bony
• stark
• dry
• inhospitable
• desert
• dead
• boney
• thirsty
• lifeless
• depleted
• exhausted
• drained
• debilitated
• enfeebled
• diminished
• consumed
• reduced
• uncultivable
• arid
• spent
• untillable
• bankrupted
• dehydrated
• droughty
• lessened
• expended
• waterless
• parched
• sere
• rainless
• sunbaked
• baked
• dried-up
• sear
• used up

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• rich
• productive
• fertile
• fruitful
• lush
• luxuriant
• arable
• green
• tillable
• verdant
• sylvan

impoverished

2 of 2

verb

past tense of impoverish

1

as in pauperized

Synonyms & Similar Words

• pauperized
• ruined
• beggared
• reduced
• bankrupted
• busted
• bust
• broke
• wiped out
• cleaned (out)
• straitened

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• enriched
• richened

2

as in depleted

Synonyms & Similar Words

• depleted
• exhausted
• consumed
• spent
• lost
• wasted
• squandered
• dissipated
• splurged
• overspent
• misspent
• lavished
• threw away
• frittered (away)
• ran through
• shot
• overindulged
• indulged
• fiddled away
• disbursed
• blew
• expended
• trifled (away)
• laid out

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• protected
• preserved
• saved
• hoarded
• laid up
• conserved
• economized
• scrimped
• skimped

Examples of impoverished in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

The blockade plunged much of Gaza’s already impoverished population further into despair. —Mustafa Barghouti, TIME, 9 Oct. 2024

And while Seoul’s official position remains pro-reunification, younger South Koreans are also increasingly dismissing the idea, viewing it as a costly undertaking that will simply invite in a mass of impoverished refugees who will struggle to adjust in a capitalist democracy. —Max Kim, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2024

Metro Ministries The organization offers services for at-risk and homeless families in underserved and impoverished communities. —Anna Lazarus Caplan, People.com, 11 Oct. 2024

Gaza was already impoverished, overcrowded and largely inescapable, blockaded by Israel and Egypt for 17 years. —Elizabeth Both, NBC News, 7 Oct. 2024