Transcription
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- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
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- [im-pov-er-ish, -pov-rish]
- /ɪmˈpɒv ər ɪʃ, -ˈpɒv rɪʃ/
- /ɪmˈpɒv.ər.ɪʃt/
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- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
-
- [im-pov-er-ish, -pov-rish]
- /ɪmˈpɒv ər ɪʃ, -ˈpɒv rɪʃ/
Definitions of impoverish word
- verb with object impoverish to reduce to poverty: a country impoverished by war. 1
- verb with object impoverish to make poor in quality, productiveness, etc.; exhaust the strength or richness of: Bad farming practices impoverished the soil. 1
- noun impoverish Make (a person or area) poor. 1
- transitive verb impoverish make poor 1
- transitive verb impoverish diminish quality of sth 1
- verb impoverish Something that impoverishes a person or a country makes them poor. 0
Information block about the term
Origin of impoverish
First appearance:
before 1400 One of the 24% oldest English words
1400-50; late Middle English empoverishen < Middle French empovriss- (long stem of empovrir), equivalent to em- em-1 + povre poor + -iss -ish2
Historical Comparancy
Parts of speech for Impoverish
noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
impoverish popularity
A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 62% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.
This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.
impoverish usage trend in Literature
This diagram is provided by Google Ngram ViewerSynonyms for impoverish
verb impoverish
- ruin — ruins, the remains of a building, city, etc., that has been destroyed or that is in disrepair or a state of decay: We visited the ruins of ancient Greece.
- deplete — To deplete a stock or amount of something means to reduce it.
- bankrupt — People or organizations that go bankrupt do not have enough money to pay their debts.
- deprive — If you deprive someone of something that they want or need, you take it away from them, or you prevent them from having it.
- diminish — to make or cause to seem smaller, less, less important, etc.; lessen; reduce.
noun impoverish
- clean out — If you clean out something such as a cupboard, room, or container, you take everything out of it and clean the inside of it thoroughly.
- dilapidate — to cause or allow (a building, automobile, etc.) to fall into a state of disrepair, as by misuse or neglect (often used passively): The house had been dilapidated by neglect.
- use up — to employ for some purpose; put into service; make use of: to use a knife.
- lay waste — to consume, spend, or employ uselessly or without adequate return; use to no avail or profit; squander: to waste money; to waste words.
- wrecker — a person or thing that wrecks.
Antonyms for impoverish
verb impoverish
- enrich — Improve or enhance the quality or value of.
See also
Matching words
- Words starting with i
- Words starting with im
- Words starting with imp
- Words starting with impo
- Words starting with impov
- Words starting with impove
- Words starting with impover
- Words starting with impoveri
- Words starting with impoveris
- Words starting with impoverish