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poor relation

noun

a person or thing considered inferior to another or othersplastic is a poor relation of real leather
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

Related Words for poor relation

deputy, servant, aide, assistant, underling, gofer, slave, helper, dependent, junior, serf, second, peon, flunky, attendant, scrub, subaltern, inferior
Idioms and Phrases with poor relation

poor relation

An inferior member of a group, as in Many regard Turkey as the poor relation in the European alliance. This expression, first recorded in 1720 for a family member in humble circumstances, began to be used figuratively in the mid-1900s.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.