poor relation
a person or thing considered inferior to another or others: plastic is a poor relation of real leather
Words Nearby poor relation
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
How to use poor relation in a sentence
A spinster who was a poor relation was the only person of respectable breeding who ever came near them.
A Lady of Quality | Frances Hodgson BurnettAt most, she only looks upon him as a kind of poor relation that ought to put up with anything.
A Charming Fellow, Volume II (of 3) | Frances Eleanor TrollopeShe had been the poor relation, the daughter of a dreaming failure.
Hunters Out of Space | Joseph Everidge KelleamRobert Moncton had been reconciled to his son, and I was once more regarded as only a poor relation.
The Monctons: A Novel, Volume I | Susanna MoodieI am rich, trust in me, and the world shall never sneer at you as a poor relation.
The Monctons: A Novel, Volume I | Susanna Moodie
Other Idioms and Phrases with poor relation
An inferior member of a group, as in Many regard Turkey as the poor relation in the European alliance. This expression, first recorded in 1720 for a family member in humble circumstances, began to be used figuratively in the mid-1900s.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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