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
• bankrupted
• needful
• depressed
• down-and-out
• penurious
• famished
• beggarly
• necessitous
• disadvantaged
• out of pocket
• threadbare
• out at elbows
• hard up
• skint
• underprivileged
• distressed
• dispossessed
• ruined
• down on one's luck
• insolvent
• unaffluent
• reduced
• hardscrabble
• pinched
• poorish
• short
• cash-strapped
• bust
• straitened
• hand-to-mouth
• possessionless
• low
• tapped out

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• wealthy
• affluent
• rich
• well-to-do
• moneyed
• opulent
• 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
• bony
• unfertile
• stark
• dry
• desert
• inhospitable
• dead
• 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
• 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

Related Words

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

Dissimilar Words

• enriched
• richened

2

as in depleted

Related 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

Dissimilar Words

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

Example Sentences

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