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empobrecer

to impoverish; to make poor

verb ehm-poh-breh-SEHR Rare
People & Society Money

Origin: From em- + pobre (poor) + -ecer.

Also means

to become impoverished

Usage Note

Empobrecer follows the -ecer pattern and inserts -zc- before o and a: empobrezco, empobrece.... Used transitively (la guerra empobreció al país) or reflexively (el suelo se empobreció). The noun empobrecimiento (impoverishment) is common in economic and social discourse. Its antonym is enriquecer (to enrich).

Examples

"La corrupción empobrece a toda la sociedad."

Natural Translation

Corruption impoverishes all of society.

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