im ‧ pov ‧ e ‧ rish /ɪmˈpɒv ə rɪʃ $ ɪmˈpɑː-/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: empovrir , from povre 'poor' ]
1 . to make someone very poor:
Falling coffee prices have impoverished many Third World economies.
families impoverished by debt
2 . to make something worse in quality:
Fast-growing trees remove nutrients and impoverish the soil.
—impoverished adjective :
an impoverished student
—impoverishment noun [uncountable] :
spiritual impoverishment