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• poor white
  poor white

  noun

  a member of a class of white people, especially of the southern U.S., having low social status and little or no money, property, or education.
• poor White
  poor White

  noun

poor white

American  

noun

Usually Disparaging and Offensive.

1. a member of a class of white people, especially of the southern U.S., having low social status and little or no money, property, or education.

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poor White British  

noun

1. offensive

   1. a poverty-stricken and underprivileged White person, esp in the southern US and South Africa

   2. ( as modifier )

      poor White trash

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Etymology

Origin of poor white

An Americanism dating back to 1810–20

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

poor white poor White

Organizer Ross Morales Rocketto discussed how many working-class and poor white men found the GOP candidate’s restoring masculinity approach appealing.

From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2024

But his life story was just as compelling: a poor white kid entranced by Black hip-hop, a technical genius in love with rap music but justifiably uncertain of his place in it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2023

“John is for the people, and it doesn’t matter if you’re rich, poor, white, Black.”

From New York Times ● Nov. 9, 2022

He wrote the bestseller “Hillbilly Elegy,” which touches on the abandonment of poor white people — even though he has a law degree from Yale and worked as a venture capitalist.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 28, 2022

He reminds me of the poor white sharecroppers who tilled Mr. Thompson’s land.

From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

“But it’s not even the racial gap because there are way more poor White people living in Providence than anybody else,” she said.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 29, 2022

Be3 f4! opens new lines of attack, and the poor White king is flushed out into the open after 27.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 15, 2022

Historically, the same sterilization programs that the Nation of Islam members evoke also purposefully targeted poor White people.

From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2021

Pity the poor White House stenographer who sought approval for the historic transcript that eventually spelled the word as “oringes”.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 4, 2019

In his mind, too, he carried a vivid picture of poor White, crouching in that wretched hut over an expiring blaze fed by the very last of their wood.

From Under the Great Bear by Munroe, Kirk