impoverishment
State of penury
Impoverishment is the process or result of becoming poor.
A nation's impoverishment may follow war or economic collapse.
The word extends beyond money to any severe depletion: the impoverishment of the soil, cultural impoverishment.
Where poverty describes a state, impoverishment emphasizes the decline into that state.
Extreme poverty, lacking necessities
- indigenceExtreme poverty, total want
- penuryExtreme lack of money
- needinessExcessive emotional reliance
- hardshipSuffering from difficult circumstances
squalor · homelessness · joblessness · underclass · slums · ghetto · inequality · disparity
Severe food shortage
- starvationExtreme nutritional deprivation
- malnutritionDisease from dietary inadequacy
- undernourishmentInsufficient dietary intake
- emaciationExtreme bodily thinness
wasting · hunger · malnourished · underfed · subsistence · breadline
State of utter depletion
- drainageLiquid removal system
- erosionGradual wearing away
- diminutionReduction in size
- dwindlingProgressively becoming smaller
degradation · deterioration · stripping · hollowing · gutting · weakening · decline · disinvestment
Legal status when insolvent
- insolvencyInability to pay debts
- debtMoney owed another
- indebtednessState of owing money
- defaultPreset standard option
liquidation · ruination · foreclosure · repossession · debtors · creditors · borrowing · arrears
Deficient supply of necessities
- deficitAmount still owed
- insufficiencyShortfall in amount needed
- paucityInsufficiency of amount
- dearthAcute shortage of something
lack · inadequacy · meagerness · sparsity · undersupply · deficiency · privation · rationing
Economical resource management
- cutbacksReductions in spending
- restraintControl over impulses
- budgetingAllocating funds systematically
- belt-tighteningReducing expenditures deliberately
retrenchment · economizing · stringency · thrift · sacrifice · rationing · curtailment
Inability to reproduce
- sterilityAbsence of microbes or fertility
- aridityAbsence of moisture
- desolationState of complete emptiness
- desertificationLand becoming barren, infertile
unfruitfulness · bareness · bleakness · lifelessness · unproductivity · fallow · wasteland · overfarming
destitution
Extreme poverty, lacking necessities
- indigenceExtreme poverty, total want
- penuryExtreme lack of money
- needinessExcessive emotional reliance
hardship · squalor · homelessness · joblessness · underclass · slums · ghetto · inequality · disparity · welfare
famine
Severe food shortage
- starvationExtreme nutritional deprivation
- malnutritionDisease from dietary inadequacy
- undernourishmentInsufficient dietary intake
emaciation · wasting · hunger · malnourished · underfed · subsistence · breadline
exhaustion
State of utter depletion
- drainageLiquid removal system
- erosionGradual wearing away
- diminutionReduction in size
dwindling · degradation · deterioration · stripping · hollowing · gutting · weakening · decline · disinvestment · underfunding
bankruptcy
Legal status when insolvent
- insolvencyInability to pay debts
- debtMoney owed another
- indebtednessState of owing money
default · liquidation · ruination · foreclosure · repossession · debtors · creditors · borrowing · arrears · liabilities
shortage
Deficient supply of necessities
- deficitAmount still owed
- insufficiencyShortfall in amount needed
- paucityInsufficiency of amount
dearth · lack · inadequacy · meagerness · sparsity · undersupply · deficiency · privation · rationing · shortfall
frugality
Economical resource management
- cutbacksReductions in spending
- restraintControl over impulses
- budgetingAllocating funds systematically
belt-tightening · retrenchment · economizing · stringency · thrift · sacrifice · rationing · curtailment
infertility
Inability to reproduce
- sterilityAbsence of microbes or fertility
- aridityAbsence of moisture
- desolationState of complete emptiness
desertification · unfruitfulness · bareness · bleakness · lifelessness · unproductivity · fallow · wasteland · overfarming
impoverishmentwealth
Abundance of valuable resources
affluence · prosperity · richness · opulence · luxury
impoverishmentenrichment
Improvement through addition
wealth accumulation · empowerment · prosperity · economic growth · rehabilitation
impoverishmentenrichment
Improvement through addition
enhancement · fertilization · flourishing · deepening · amplification