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Synonyms

poor relation

British  

noun

  1. a person or thing considered inferior to another or others

    plastic 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
poor relation Idioms  

  1. 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.

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

His poor relation had always been an anomaly in the ranks of SPI employees, old among the young, emaciated among the luscious, a lonely figure, permanently out of step, everyone’s crazy grandpa.

From The New Yorker • Jul. 22, 2019

Nor do I wish to depreciate chess and draughts, nor even halma, the poor relation of draughts and chess, nor dominoes, which we all love.

From Wings and the Child or, the Building of Magic Cities by Nesbit, E. (Edith)

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.