impoverishing
Stripping of wealth
Impoverishing means making poor or reducing to poverty.
The word applies literally to economic circumstances—policies impoverishing the middle class—but extends to any depletion of resources or quality: an impoverishing lack of imagination, environmentally impoverishing practices.
What impoverishes leaves something diminished, whether a bank account or a cultural tradition.
Extreme poverty, lacking necessities
- bankruptcyLegal status when insolvent
- insolvencyInability to pay debts
- pauperizationReduction to extreme poverty
- penuryExtreme lack of money
indigence · beggary · ruin · deficit · recession · slump · crisis · downfall
Causing severe impairment
- enfeeblingCausing loss of strength
- sappingGradually draining vitality
- drainingDepleting one's reserves
- underminingWeakening by covert means
diminishing · attenuating · enervating · depleting · exhausting · devitalizing · crippling · impairing
State of lacking necessities
- privationLack of necessities
- scarcityInsufficiency of something needed
- insufficiencyShortfall in amount needed
- depletionReduction of supply
shortage · lack · want · bareness · paucity · dearth · starvation · malnutrition
Gradual wearing away
- decayGradual organic breakdown
- deteriorationProcess of declining quality
- worseningBecoming more severe
- ruinationState of complete destruction
blight · desolation · devastation · dilapidation · disrepair · collapse · decline · regression
Becoming progressively less
- limitingPlacing restrictions upon
- narrowingReduction in width
- restrictingPlacing limits upon
- curtailingReducing in extent
stifling · stultifying · deadening · flattening · reducing · constricting · constraining · impeding
destitution
Extreme poverty, lacking necessities
- bankruptcyLegal status when insolvent
- insolvencyInability to pay debts
- pauperizationReduction to extreme poverty
penury · indigence · beggary · ruin · deficit · recession · slump · crisis · downfall · austerity
debilitating
Causing severe impairment
- enfeeblingCausing loss of strength
- sappingGradually draining vitality
- drainingDepleting one's reserves
undermining · diminishing · attenuating · enervating · depleting · exhausting · devitalizing · crippling · impairing · stunting
deprivation
State of lacking necessities
- privationLack of necessities
- scarcityInsufficiency of something needed
- insufficiencyShortfall in amount needed
depletion · shortage · lack · want · bareness · paucity · dearth · starvation · malnutrition · homelessness
erosion
Gradual wearing away
- decayGradual organic breakdown
- deteriorationProcess of declining quality
- worseningBecoming more severe
ruination · blight · desolation · devastation · dilapidation · disrepair · collapse · decline · regression · retrogression
diminishing
Becoming progressively less
- limitingPlacing restrictions upon
- narrowingReduction in width
- restrictingPlacing limits upon
curtailing · stifling · stultifying · deadening · flattening · reducing · constricting · constraining · impeding · hindering
impoverishingenriching
Adding worth or nutrients
profitable · lucrative · prospering · capitalizing · remunerative
impoverishingenriching
Adding worth or nutrients
enhancing · fulfilling · edifying · deepening · elevating
impoverishingenriching
Adding worth or nutrients
replenishing · nourishing · fortifying · fertilizing · augmenting
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