impoverished
/ɪmˈpɒvərɪʃt/ (bre, ipa) · /ɪmˈpɑːvərɪʃt/ (ame, ipa) · /im-ˈpä-v(ə-)risht/ (ame, mw)
impoverished — 形容詞
- impoverishedpositive
- more impoverishedcomparative
- most impoverishedsuperlative
1. having little or no money, often because earlier wealth or income has been lost
貧困的
因失去財富或收入而非常窮的
having little or no money, often because earlier wealth or income has been lost or stripped away — for example, families left without food after a flood, or a country whose economy has collapsed.
After the factory closed, Sivan's family became impoverished within a year.
工廠關閉後，Sivan 一家在一年內變得貧困。
become + impoverished for a change of state
The charity sends school supplies to impoverished villages in northern Kenya.
該慈善機構將學校用品送到肯亞北部的貧困村莊。
attributive: impoverished + plural noun (villages, families, regions)
Yumi grew up in an impoverished neighbourhood where most houses had no running water.
Yumi 在一個貧困的社區長大，那裡大多數房子都沒有自來水。
The war left thousands of farmers impoverished and dependent on food aid.
戰爭讓數千名農民陷入貧困，必須依賴食物援助。
Christopher writes about impoverished children who must work instead of going to school.
Christopher 撰寫關於貧困兒童的故事，他們必須工作而無法上學。
- destitute
stronger; suggests no resources at all, often homeless
- poverty-stricken
very close in meaning; slightly more emotional tone
- needy
softer; emphasises requiring help rather than the poverty itself
用法筆記
Subject is usually a person, family, community, region, or country. Often appears in journalistic or formal writing about poverty and aid; in everyday speech, Taiwanese learners more often hear 'poor'.
常見錯誤
2. weakened or thinned out, with less variety, richness, or nutrient content than b
貧瘠的
因缺乏某要素而品質變差的
weakened or thinned out, with less variety, richness, or nutrient content than before — used of things like soil that has lost its minerals, a language that has lost vocabulary, or a culture whose richness has faded.
Years of growing only corn left the soil on Gabriela's farm badly impoverished.
多年只種玉米，使 Gabriela 農場的土壤嚴重貧瘠。
common collocation: impoverished soil (lost nutrients)
Zayd argues that modern pop music has become musically impoverished compared to the 1970s.
Zayd 認為現代流行音樂在音樂性上比 1970 年代更為匱乏。
adverb + impoverished: musically / culturally / intellectually
Without translated books, the local library felt culturally impoverished.
沒有翻譯書籍，當地圖書館顯得文化匱乏。
The constant noise from the highway has impoverished the bird life around Trang's village.
高速公路持續的噪音使 Trang 村莊周圍的鳥類生態變得貧瘠。
Critics say cutting the arts programme would leave the school's curriculum seriously impoverished.
評論者認為刪除藝術課程會讓學校的課程嚴重匱乏。
- depleted
emphasises a resource being used up; common with soil, supplies
- diminished
neutral; about reduction in size or strength, not always quality loss
- barren
stronger; usually for land that can no longer produce anything
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1: this sense never refers to a person's wealth — it describes things losing some quality (soil losing nutrients, music losing variety, ecosystems losing species). Often paired with adverbs like 'culturally', 'musically', 'intellectually', 'genetically'.