impoverished 1 of 2

adjective

im-ˈpä-v(ə-)risht How to pronounce impoverished (audio)
Definition of impoverishednext
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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in desolate
producing inferior or only a small amount of vegetation an impoverished field that over the years had been overgrazed

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

impoverished

2 of 2

verb

past tense of impoverish
1
as in pauperized

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Dissimilar Words
2
as in depleted

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Dissimilar Words

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 impoverished
Adjective
The loosened restrictions will not empower Washington to pursue investment and economic cooperation with al Sharaa’s government, which could transform the impoverished country. — Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 27 Aug. 2026 Her troubled and impoverished family sends her to another family’s farm so the girl’s overwhelmed mother can give birth to yet another child. — Literary Hub, 27 Aug. 2026 Rich Dad’s philosophy, hammered home over and over again in the book, is a fundamentally impoverished way of looking at the world. — Christopher Cox, Vanity Fair, 26 Aug. 2026 Parton had came from an impoverished upbringing, and used her fame to focus on philanthropy and support for those in need. — Amethyst Martinez, USA Today, 26 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for impoverished
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impoverished
  1. poor
  2. desolate
  3. ruined
  4. depleted
  5. broke
  6. barren
  7. reduced
  8. exhausted
Adjective
  • Such diagnoses can carry an extraordinarily poor neonatal prognosis.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 3 Oct. 2026
  • Road accidents are frequent in Africa’s most populous country, in part due to poor road conditions and lax enforcement of traffic laws.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of poor
Adjective
  • Along a desolate stretch of California desert highway, next to a ramshackle home, law enforcement officials on Wednesday dug for a second day in a search for bodies.
    — Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2026
  • With its fragile acoustic melodies, desolate lyrics, and spare, subtle studio accompaniment, Ride Lonesome is like Nick Drake’s mumble-folk masterpiece Bryter Layter as the work of a lovelorn Laurel Canyon soft-rock poet.
    — Jon Dolan, Rolling Stone, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of desolate
Verb
  • As Vanderslice unwittingly contributed to the story with some quotes, not realizing the tone and direction of the article, his candidacy was derailed and his credibility ruined.
    — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Some suburbs battled soil erosion, which ruined rivers and contaminated drinking water.
    — Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of ruined
Verb
  • After playing in a limited role in Miami’s season opener at Stanford, Dunnigan started at safety opposite Zechariah Poyser each of the Hurricanes’ next three games as injuries have depleted the team’s secondary.
    — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 3 Oct. 2026
  • And as this line starts moving across the page, this black band starts getting thinner and thinner as Napoleon’s army is getting depleted.
    — Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of depleted
Adjective
  • The fact that the region’s broke local government is paying a total of 12 million for a renewable partnership with the Centre Pompidou doesn’t help.
    — Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 10 Sep. 2026
  • All three races put Schumer and his allies in a tough position of deciding whether to pour all of their limited resources into a handful of states that can give them 51 seats — or go for broke all across the country to multiply their chances.
    — Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of broke
Adjective
  • Later, this same organic material hitched a ride on crashing meteorites to seed a young, barren Earth.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 22 Sep. 2026
  • In one of these journals, called Notebook B, there is an incidental sketch, a few scratched lines like the barren twigs of a winter tree.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of barren
Verb
  • To help pay for its tax cuts, the act reduced Medicaid payments by a trillion dollars over the next decade, though it was designed to delay the full impact of the cuts until 2027, after this year’s elections.
    — Nicholas Lemann, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026
  • The agency reduced service earlier this year and has proposed more cuts in recent board meetings.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of reduced
Verb
  • But seven months into the conflict, with no clear end in sight, the global oil market has now largely exhausted the safety measures that exist to keep a lid on petroleum prices.
    — Greg Pollock, The Conversation, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Such litigation should only be considered as a last resort once all other reasonable options have been exhausted.
    — Michael L. Hyman, Miami Herald, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of exhausted

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Cite this Entry

“Impoverished.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impoverished. Accessed 5 Oct. 2026.

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