verb
impoverish
im-PAH-vuh-rish/ɪmˈpɑːvərɪʃ/
To deprive of resources that provide richness or well-being.
The flood impoverishes the family, destroying furniture and exhausting household savings.
Etymology
Povre described not only someone lacking money but also something inadequate or weak. To impoverish is to bring about that condition, whether by reducing a person’s resources or stripping something of richness.
In context
control and extort the labor and properties of other men and thus impoverish them in order to minister to their own wealth
More examples
- Decades of intensive farming impoverished the soil.
- Closing the library impoverishes the whole community.
- The war is impoverishing families across the region.
Forms
impoverish · impoverishes · impoverished · impoverishing
impoverishment noun — The loss of wealth, resources, or richness.