as in impoverished
lacking money or material possessions
poverty-stricken immigrants struggling to make ends meet
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Recent Examples of poverty-stricken
During and after the Great Depression, the Tennessee Valley Authority built dozens of hydroelectric dams, bringing electricity and flood control to the most remote and poverty-stricken hollows of Appalachia.
—
Bill Kearney, Sun Sentinel, 29 June 2025
That’s a long way from living in motels and stealing steaks from grocery stores during his more humble days of being poverty-stricken.
—Karu F. Daniels, New York Daily News, 28 Feb. 2025
That’s a long way from living in motels and stealing steaks from grocery stores during his more humble days of being poverty-stricken.
—Karu F. Daniels, New York Daily News, 28 Feb. 2025
The neighborhood surrounding it is poverty-stricken, forcing families without cars to frequent the store.
—Shira Moolten, Sun Sentinel, 11 July 2024
At the time, Whitechapel was poverty-stricken and overcrowded, with over 76,000 people populating its dilapidated avenues and dwellings.
—Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 18 Jan. 2024
Bill Kearney, Sun Sentinel, 29 June 2025
That’s a long way from living in motels and stealing steaks from grocery stores during his more humble days of being poverty-stricken.
—Karu F. Daniels, New York Daily News, 28 Feb. 2025
That’s a long way from living in motels and stealing steaks from grocery stores during his more humble days of being poverty-stricken.
—Karu F. Daniels, New York Daily News, 28 Feb. 2025
The neighborhood surrounding it is poverty-stricken, forcing families without cars to frequent the store.
—Shira Moolten, Sun Sentinel, 11 July 2024
At the time, Whitechapel was poverty-stricken and overcrowded, with over 76,000 people populating its dilapidated avenues and dwellings.
—Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 18 Jan. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for poverty-stricken
Adjective
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Miss Lonelyhearts—who is actually a man—is an advice columnist receiving letters from people who are impoverished, in despair, and surrounded by an atmosphere of moral depravity and incipient fascism.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
16 July 2025
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Some of the city's most impoverished communities also wrestle with the highest rates of afflictions like heart disease, and research suggests more tree canopy and green spaces can reduce these risks, in addition to benefiting stress levels and general quality of life.—
Connor Giffin,
The Courier-Journal,
3 July 2025
Adjective
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In the dining room of The Brother Benno Center, a refuge for the area’s poor and homeless, more than 100 people gathered recently to celebrate the 90th birthday of the Rev. Charles Wright, who has been a spiritual guide there for four decades.—
Linda Mcintosh,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
4 Aug. 2025
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However, the quality of the product is sometimes, notably, poorer.—
Julia Gomez,
USA Today,
4 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Poverty-stricken.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poverty-stricken. Accessed 7 Aug. 2025.
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