poor mouth
noun
a person who continually complains about a lack of money.
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poor mouth
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poor-mouth
poor-mouthverb (used without object)to lament or argue that one is too poor; plead poverty.
poor mouth
1 American
[poor mohth]
/ ˈpʊər ˌmoʊθ /
noun
Informal.
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a person who continually complains about a lack of money.
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a plea or complaint of poverty, often as an excuse for not contributing to charities, paying bills, etc.
idioms
poor-mouth
2
American
[poor-mouth]
/ ˈpʊərˌmaʊθ /
verb (used without object)
poor-mouthed,
poor-mouthing
verb (used with object)
poor-mouthed,
poor-mouthing
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to declare (one's ability, power, position, etc.) to be inadequate or disappointing, sometimes as an intentional understatement; downplay.
We know you're just poor-mouthing your skill at playing bridge—you're a good player.
poor mouth
British
noun
verb
Etymology
Origin of poor mouth1
First recorded in 1815–25
Origin of poor-mouth2
1965–70; originally in verb phrases put up a poor mouth, make a poor mouth
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 are not going to cry the poor mouth, other than to say the reality of this challenge is too much.
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2011
But what is making Mancini put on the poor mouth?
From The Guardian ● Sep. 24, 2010
This boy was a prisoner, too, and yet he turns up all right and puts up a poor mouth about what he failed to do.
From A Little Union Scout by George Gibbs
"I some expected," began Rogers, "to find you here----" "No, you didn't," interrupted Lapham; "you wanted to come here and make a poor mouth to Mrs. Lapham before I got home."
From The Rise of Silas Lapham by William Dean Howells
Master Alleyn, don't make a poor mouth; you're none so needy.
From Master Skylark by John Bennett
The city can’t cry poor-mouth, pleading a lack of money as a defense for allowing this outrageous condition to exist.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 4, 2019
He’d have to make a call, poor-mouth into the phone until his father’s wallet spit out more bills.
From The New Yorker ● May 13, 2013
On other the hand, in a contentious divorce, the goal is typically to poor-mouth your personal balance sheet as much as possible.
From New York Times ● Jan. 23, 2010
For all the Army's poor-mouth talk, the U. S. has on hand equipment for 1,000,000 men, largely old War stores.
From Time Magazine Archive
Now, you must not expect people to try to poor-mouth % what it is they are trying to accomplish.
From Time Magazine Archive
Manfred has poor-mouthed the experience of team ownership, asserting that most owners could have done better by investing in the stock market.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2022
He gave Katherine Heigl time to describe getting snubbed at a restaurant by her “Knocked Up” co-star Seth Rogen because she had poor-mouthed the movie in a Vanity Fair interview.
From New York Times ● Jul. 27, 2016
He poor-mouthed to reporters that Brother Martin was bigger than Louisiana State and Tulane.
From New York Times ● Nov. 24, 2012
"Maybe I poor-mouthed his chances too much, but I think he could have been nominated."
From Time Magazine Archive
As we regard their powerful armour, we seem to see the fierce-toothed Theropods springing from the rear upon the poor-mouthed vegetarians.
From The Story of Evolution by Joseph McCabe
Any poor-mouthing attempts by MLB were preempted last week by the release of the Atlanta Braves’ financial statements, revealing a $104 million profit in 2021.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 1, 2022
Consumer advocates naturally are skeptical of the utilities' poor-mouthing.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2018
Constant poor-mouthing can either grow tedious or, worse, seem like trolling for compliments.
From Time Magazine Archive
Sanford further claims, convincingly, that despite Nader's poor-mouthing, his major lobbying organization, Public Citizen Inc., had a net worth of $1.3 million as of 1974, the date of its most recent public report.
From Time Magazine Archive
Also, it is spared the final phase of the trial, in which Eisner would have had to counter Katzenberg's estimate of future revenue by poor-mouthing the company's prospects.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
