An Americanism dating back to 1935–40
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He had grown up dirt poor in what is now South Korea, then occupied by Japan.
From Science Magazine ● May 3, 2023
“When I grew up dirt poor, museums were not for me,” said Eggers, who has been with the Burke for seven years now.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 9, 2022
Lucy grew up dirt poor and suffered a lot from her parents’ bad choices, so being an intelligent person she has always been very savvy about saving and cautious about spending.
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2022
Henry’s uncle, Collis P. Huntington, was born dirt poor, but as a rapacious founding partner and then cutthroat president of the Central Pacific Railroad, he became immensely rich.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2019
I figured it wouldn’t do me any good if they knew I was dirt poor.
From "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie
Rising per capita income and human-development indicators on her watch prompted talk of the “Bangladesh miracle”: A once dirt-poor land racked by natural disasters joining the ranks of middle-income countries through grit and tenacity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 11, 2026
Colombia's anti -narcotics strategy targets those at the top of the cocaine trade, not the dirt-poor farmers at the bottom.
From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2026
“Taxi Driver” swerves into the gig economy in this brash and buzzy novel about a dirt-poor ride-hail driver who develops an unhealthy fascination with a wealthy customer.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 3, 2024
Loretta Lynn, the firebrand singer and songwriter who transformed coal into diamonds by exploring her dirt-poor childhood in eastern Appalachia in her career-defining 1970 hit “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” died on Tuesday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2022
Allen had grown up dirt-poor, in a three-room house with no running water.
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
