Standard Lemma guide

immiserization

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɪˌmɪzəɹaɪˈzeɪʃ(ə)n/
  • General-American: /ɪˌmɪzəɹaɪˈzeɪʃən/
  • rhymes with -eɪʃən

1

noun

Meaning 1

The process of making miserable or poor, especially of a population as a whole; impoverishment, pauperization.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: immiseration

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From im- (prefix meaning ‘in; into; to; towards’) + miser(able) + -ization (suffix denoting the act, process, or result of doing or making something, forming nouns), a translation of German Verelendung (“immiseration, impoverishment”).

Across languages

Translations

8 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: kurjistus — process of making miserable or poor — see also impoverishment
  • French: paupérisation — process of making miserable or poor — see also impoverishment
  • German: Verelendung — process of making miserable or poor — see also impoverishment
  • Italian: impoverimento — process of making miserable or poor — see also impoverishment
  • Italian: pauperizzazione — process of making miserable or poor — see also impoverishment
  • Polish: zubażanie — process of making miserable or poor — see also impoverishment
  • Spanish: empobrecimiento — process of making miserable or poor — see also impoverishment
  • Ottoman Turkish: خراب (harab) — process of making miserable or poor — see also impoverishment