poor relation
Britishnoun
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.
Bayswater was long considered the poor relation of its ultradesirable London neighbors Notting Hill and Marylebone, but new development is driving up home prices in the area.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026
Though it can seem the poor relation of “real” television, the game show has a long history with the medium.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2023
The chairwoman of the CCC adaptation committee, Julia King, Baroness Brown of Cambridge, said work on adapting to changes in the climate was the "poor relation" of the net zero targets feted by governments.
From BBC ● Mar. 15, 2022
Diagnostics has been the poor relation to drugs and vaccines for years, as governments are now realising to their cost.
From The Guardian ● May 1, 2020
Political geography has been too often looked on from both sides as a mere summary of guide-book knowledge, useful in the schoolroom, a poor relation of physical geography that it was rarely necessary to recognize.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 6 "Geodesy" to "Geometry" by Various
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.
