pauperise
/'pɔ:pəraiz/ Cách viết khác : (pauperise) /'pɔ:pəraiz/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Verb:
- To reduce to a state of extreme poverty; to make someone a pauper: The verb "pauperise" means to cause a person or group to become destitute, lacking the basic necessities of life due to financial ruin.
- To impoverish utterly: It implies a severe reduction in economic status, often to the point of beggary or complete dependence on charity.
Usage and Examples
- Verb:
- The economic crisis threatened to pauperise the entire middle class.
- A series of bad investments could pauperise even a wealthy family.
- Policies that destroy local industries often pauperise rural communities.
Advanced Usage
- "to pauperise oneself": To bring about one's own financial ruin through one's actions.
- By gambling away his inheritance, he managed to pauperise himself.
- Used in economic, social, and historical discussions to describe the severe effects of policies, wars, or disasters.
- The historian argued that the enclosure acts served to pauperise many peasant farmers.
Variants and Related Words
- Pauperisation (noun, chiefly British English): The act or process of making someone a pauper.
- The rapid pauperisation of the population led to social unrest.
- Pauper (noun): A very poor person.
- Impoverish (verb): A more common synonym, though "pauperise" often suggests a more extreme or complete state of poverty.
Synonyms
- Impoverish: To make poor.
- Bankrupt: To reduce to financial insolvency.
- Beggar: To reduce to beggary (this is also a verb).
- Ruinate (archaic): To bring to ruin.
Antonyms
- Enrich: To make wealthy or richer.
- Prosper: To be successful, especially financially.
Notes on Usage
- Spelling: The verb is most commonly spelled pauperise in British English. The American English spelling is typically pauperize.
- Register: This word is formal and is most often found in academic, historical, or socio-economic writing rather than everyday conversation. The more common verb in general use is "impoverish."
Verb
- reduce to beggary