Poverty-stricken means extremely poor — not “a bit short of money this month,” but living with real, grinding want. Stricken here means hit hard by something bad, so the picture is of people, families, villages, or even a whole area struck by poverty.

Poverty-stricken meanspoverty-stricken的意思是 extremely poor極度貧窮—— not "a bit short of money this month,"不是『這個月手頭有點緊』， but living with real, grinding want而是活在真正、磨人的貧困裡。 Stricken here means hit hard by something bad這裡的stricken指的是被壞事重重打擊， so the picture is of people, families, villages, or even a whole area struck by poverty所以畫面是人、家庭、村莊，甚至整個地區都被貧窮擊中。

Newspapers, charities, and stories use it; in everyday talk many people just say very poor or dirt poor, so this compound feels a little more formal and a little like written English.

Newspapers, charities, and stories use it報紙、慈善機構和報導故事會用這個字； in everyday talk many people just say very poor or dirt poor日常口語裡很多人只會說very poor或dirt poor， so this compound feels a little more formal and a little like written English所以這個複合詞感覺比較正式、比較像書面英文。

It always takes a hyphen. You can put it before a noun (a poverty-stricken neighbourhood) or after a verb (The region was poverty-stricken after the mines closed).

It always takes a hyphen它一定要加連字號。 You can put it before a noun你可以把它放在名詞前面 (a poverty-stricken neighbourhood)（a poverty-stricken neighbourhood）， or after a verb或放在動詞後面 (The region was poverty-stricken after the mines closed)（The region was poverty-stricken after the mines closed）。

It is about money and means, not about being sad or unlucky in some other way — though actually those often travel together.

It is about money and means這個字講的是金錢和資源， not about being sad or unlucky in some other way不是講難過或其他方面的不幸—— though actually those often travel together不過其實這兩者常常一起出現。