poor
Americanadjective
-
poorer,
comparative
-
poorest
superlative
-
having little or no money, goods, or other means of support.
She came from a poor family struggling to survive.
- Synonyms:
- straitened, necessitous, poverty-stricken, penniless, destitute, impoverished, indigent, needy
-
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.
- Synonyms:
- meager
-
faulty or inferior, as in construction.
poor workmanship.
- Synonyms:
- shabby, unsatisfactory
-
(of land or soil) lacking abundance or productivity.
poor soil.
- Synonyms:
- unfruitful, barren, sterile
- Antonyms:
- fertile
-
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.
-
They shared their poor meal with a stranger.
-
The poor dog was limping.
noun
idioms
-
poor as Job's turkey, extremely poor.
-
poor as a church mouse, extremely poor.
adjective
-
-
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
-
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
-
a (cheaper) substitute for something
Pronunciation
In North and North Midland U.S. English, the vowel of poor is most often . Poor and sure thus contrast with pour and shore: , versus , or , . In the South Midland and South, the vowel of poor is generally or (often with the final (r) dropped), which means that in these areas, poor and pour are homophones, as are sure and shore. Both types of pronunciation exist in the British Isles.
Synonym Usage
Poor, impecunious, impoverished, penniless refer to those lacking money. Poor is the simple term for the condition of lacking means to obtain the comforts of life: a very poor family. Impecunious often suggests that the poverty is a consequence of unwise habits: an impecunious actor. Impoverished often implies a former state of greater plenty, from which one has been reduced: the impoverished aristocracy. Penniless may mean destitute, or it may apply simply to a temporary condition of being without funds: The widow was left penniless with three small children.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of poor
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English pov(e)re, from Old French povre, from Latin pauper; see pauper
Explanation
Poor describes having little of something. If you lack needed food and shelter, you're poor, and if you fall below a standard or don't even try, you're giving a poor performance. Empty pockets and empty efforts both mean poor. Rich or wealthy often serve as opposites of poor. If you have material things, you're rich, and if you don't, you're poor. You can be full of knowledge but get poor grades if you're not studying, or you might be poor in terms of money but rich in friends and kindness. Poor can also be used as a noun, as in "Charity is aimed at helping the poor."
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:
As a missionary, parish priest and later as bishop in northern Peru he ministered to the poor, denounced the excesses of power and lobbied for action on climate change.
From Barron's ● Nov. 5, 2026
When interest rates were low throughout the 2010s, the returns for savers were poor, but borrowing costs were low too.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
Some 75% of those asked said the economy was in a "not so good or poor" state with 25% saying it was "excellent or good".
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
But in part because of all that screen time, they’re simultaneously misattributing it to tired eyes or poor brightness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
And, with all that racket going on, Cindy—my poor little cat—got so scared she climbed on top of the house and I didn’t think I’d ever get her down.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
Barrera defended the overall quality of public schools and advocated for expanding what works from successful campuses to those with poorer academic results.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026
Separated from the levers of power and now half a billion dollars poorer, Musk has been forced to play-act a scenario where he won.
From Salon ● Nov. 3, 2026
The district qualified because census takers grouped the retail corridor with adjacent poorer neighborhoods and relied only on residential data.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
Researchers used a 30-point test of thinking and memory, with lower scores reflecting poorer cognitive function.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2026
I mean, I knew Mummy had been poor in India, way poorer than we were.
From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon
This increase was especially large for middle-class households of working age and for the poorest retirement-age households.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026
They mapped out public toilets in some of the poorest regions of the city, created bus routes databases and fought slum clearance policies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026
The Brazilian suffered a thigh injury before the 2-0 home loss to Tottenham, a match that produced Chelsea's poorest attacking display of the season and the first time they had failed to score.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
There are also real questions about the sustainability of a system built on subsistence farming in some of the poorest regions on earth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Maybe being the least prestigious, poorest, most ridiculed district in the country has its advantages.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
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