dirt poor
adjective
lacking nearly all material means or resources for living.
dirt poor
Americanadjective
dirt-poor
British
adjective
Etymology
Origin of dirt poor
An Americanism dating back to 1935–40
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“We were dirt poor, had big Scottish accents at the time, a family of six siblings, and then coming to very conventional suburban schools,” he said, the memory eliciting a wild-card smile.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026
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
The problem was that her family was dirt poor.
From "I Will Always Write Back" by Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda
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
Something had to be wrong with me, but one really good advantage about being dirt-poor is that you can’t afford to go to the doctor and get bad news.
From "Dead End in Norvelt" by Jack Gantos
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
