Synonyms of impoverishment

impoverishment

noun

as in poverty

the state of lacking sufficient money or material possessions

the gradual loss of manufacturing jobs plunged the area into a level of impoverishment it had never known

Synonyms & Similar Words

• poverty
• misery
• poorness
• indigence
• penury
• pauperism
• destitution
• necessity
• beggary
• neediness
• deprivation
• need
• impecuniousness
• impecuniosity
• privation
• penuriousness
• wretchedness
• want
• destituteness
• bankruptcy
• exigency
• woe
• emergency
• gutter
• insolvency
• rainy day
• austerity
• pinching
• belt-tightening
• straitening

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• wealth
• affluence
• richness
• opulence
• prosperity
• wealthiness
• luxury

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of impoverishment

Iranian society is facing years of impoverishment and insecurity. — Ali Vaez, Foreign Affairs, 29 Sep. 2026

His subjects are voluntary members of the American elite who were at no risk of imprisonment or impoverishment. — Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2026

Just as with the Romans, we peasants are treated to a spectacle to distract us from the reality of the abject impoverishment of the social safety net and the abandonment of the poor. — Chicago Tribune, 15 Aug. 2026

From impoverishment to global superpower, China’s supremacy happened at a breakneck speed thanks to the visionary strategy of the man who took power in 1978. — Rund Abdelfatah, NPR, 23 July 2026

But Burke’s key insight was that stripping civilizations of their beauty and sense of reverence would lead to spiritual impoverishment and, eventually, to terror. — Peter Wehner, The Atlantic, 23 Mar. 2026

Several studies found that the causation element was weak, including one funded by the Department of Health and Human Services that showed that achieving those life milestones, regardless of order, was what was associated with a lower level of impoverishment. — Marissa Martinez, NBC news, 5 Feb. 2026

Separately, Biden thrice designated Haiti for Temporary Protected Status in the aftermath of the murder of President Jovenel Moise, a devastating earthquake, mass internal displacement, widespread gang violence, chronic hunger and extreme impoverishment. — Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald, 5 Sep. 2025

Though very little information from the isolated nation reaches the outside world now, reports indicate severe impoverishment and malnourishment throughout much of the country. — Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 1 Sep. 2025