poor
having little or no money, goods, or other means of support: She came from a poor family struggling to survive.
Law. dependent upon charity or public support.
(of a country, institution, etc.) meagerly supplied or endowed with resources or funds.
characterized by or showing poverty.
deficient or lacking in something specified: a region poor in mineral deposits.
faulty or inferior, as in construction: poor workmanship.
(of land or soil) lacking abundance or productivity: poor soil.
excessively lean or emaciated, as cattle.
of an inferior, inadequate, or unsatisfactory kind: poor health.
lacking in skill, ability, or training: a poor cook.
deficient in moral excellence; cowardly, abject, or mean.
scanty, meager, or paltry in amount or number: a poor audience.
unfortunate; hapless: The poor dog was limping.
Usually the poor .Often Disparaging and Offensive. poor people collectively.
Idioms about poor
poor as a church mouse, extremely poor.
poor as Job's turkey, Southern and South Midland U.S. extremely poor.
Origin of poor
1synonym study For poor
pronunciation note For poor
Other words for poor
1 | needy, indigent, impoverished, destitute, penniless, poverty-stricken, necessitous, straitened |
5 | meager |
6 | unsatisfactory, shabby |
7 | sterile, barren, unfruitful, unproductive |
8 | thin, skinny, meager, gaunt |
14 | miserable, unhappy, pitiable |
Opposites for poor
Other words from poor
- poor·ness, noun
- non·poor, noun
- qua·si-poor, adjective
- qua·si-poor·ly, adverb
Words that may be confused with poor
Words Nearby poor
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use poor in a sentence
Indeed, when the first asylums were created, the poor and the mad were locked up together with the rest of society’s outcasts.
How colonialism and capitalism helped place a stigma on mental illness | Balaji Ravichandran | February 12, 2021 | Washington PostA House committee took the proposal further this week, replacing Hogan’s $750 payments to 400,000 poor families with a three-year anti-poverty plan that would increase the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Maryland House Democrats push to expand eligibility for covid relief | Ovetta Wiggins, Erin Cox | February 11, 2021 | Washington PostThe wealthier wards had kids returning to class at twice the rate as the poorest ward in the city, according to city data.
The mid-pandemic return to school is totally weird for kids. And possibly lonely, too. | Petula Dvorak | February 11, 2021 | Washington PostChairs that offer active sitting will strengthen your core while offering support for your lower back, while chairs that have poor support can cause spinal alignment issues and lead to a potentially serious back injury.
Their conclusion, summarized in a statement and short report, is that the crash stemmed from the pilot executing “poor decision making” as well as experiencing spatial disorientation.
This surprisingly common flight issue contributed to Kobe Bryant’s helicopter crash | Rob Verger | February 11, 2021 | Popular-Science
Placed in drinking water, fluoride can serve people who otherwise have poor access to dental care.
If so, he has his silence -- on top of poor judgment -- to blame.
But most likely it was linked to the way priests identify with the poor in the face of government and criminal abuses.
What they actually mean by that is, you know, he actually knows some people that are poor.
For those living in poor communities in particular, interactions with police rarely come with good news and a smile.
poor Squinty ran and tried to hide under the straw, for he knew the boy was talking about him.
Squinty the Comical Pig | Richard BarnumHe did believe you, more or less, and what you said fell in with his own impressions—strange impressions that they were, poor man!
Confidence | Henry JamesIn withdrawing aside sorrow remaineth: and the substance of the poor is according to his heart.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | VariousThe poor must look to the brightness of a future world for the consolation that they were denied in this.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice | Stephen LeacockY was a Youth, that did not love school; Z was a Zany, a poor harmless fool.
British Dictionary definitions for poor
/ (pʊə, pɔː) /
lacking financial or other means of subsistence; needy
(as collective noun; preceded by the): the poor
characterized by or indicating poverty: the country had a poor economy
deficient in amount; scanty or inadequate: a poor salary
(when postpositive, usually foll by in) badly supplied (with resources, materials, etc): a region poor in wild flowers
lacking in quality; inferior
giving no pleasure; disappointing or disagreeable: a poor play
(prenominal) deserving of pity; unlucky: poor John is ill again
poor man's something a (cheaper) substitute for something
Origin of poor
1Derived forms of poor
- poorness, noun
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
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