poor (pʊə
;pɔː)
Definitions
adjective
- lacking financial or other means of subsistence; needy
- ((as collective noun; preceded by ( preceded by the) ⇒
the poor
- characterized by or indicating poverty ⇒
the country had a poor economy
- deficient in amount; scanty or inadequate ⇒
a poor salary
- when postpositive, usually foll by in badly supplied (with resources, materials, etc) ⇒
a region poor in wild flowers
- lacking in quality; inferior
- giving no pleasure; disappointing or disagreeable ⇒
a poor play
- (prenominal) deserving of pity; unlucky ⇒
poor John is ill again
- See poor man's something
Alternative Forms
ˈpoorness nounWord Origin
C13: from Old French povre, from Latin pauper; see pauper, povertySynonyms
View thesaurus entry=
impoverished,
broke,
badly off,
hard up,
short,
in need
needy,
on the rocks,
penniless,
destitute,
poverty-stricken,
down and out
skint,
in want
indigent,
down at heel,
impecunious,
dirt-poor,
on the breadline,
flat broke,
penurious,
on your uppers
stony-broke,
necessitous,
in queer street without two pennies to rub together on your beam-ends
=
unfortunate,
pathetic,
miserable,
unlucky,
hapless,
pitiful,
luckless,
wretched,
ill-starred,
pitiable,
ill-fated,
=
inferior,
unsatisfactory,
mediocre,
second-rate,
sorry,
weak,
pants,
rotten,
faulty,
feeble,
worthless,
shabby,
shoddy,
low-grade,
below par,
substandard,
low-rent,
for the birds,
crappy,
valueless,
no great shakes,
rubbishy,
poxy,
piss-poor,
chickenshit,
not much cop
half-pie,
strictly for the birds,
bodger or bodgie
=
meagre,
inadequate,
insufficient,
reduced,
lacking,
slight,
miserable,
pathetic,
incomplete,
scant,
sparse,
deficient,
skimpy,
measly,
scanty,
pitiable,
niggardly,
straitened,
exiguous,
=
unproductive,
barren,
fruitless,
bad,
bare,
exhausted,
depleted,
impoverished,
sterile,
infertile,
unfruitful,
Quotations
"The poor man is happy; he expects no change for the worse"
"The poor always ye have with you"
Bible: St. John"Poor and content is rich and rich enough"
Translations
- British English:
poor
Someone who is poor has very little money and few possessions.The reason our schools cannot afford better teachers is because people here are poor.pʊə; pɔː ADJECTIVE The reason our schools cannot afford better teachers is because people here are poor.
- Spanish:
pobre
adj
- French:
pauvre
adj
- German:
arm
adj
- Chinese: 贫穷的 adj
- Arabic: فَقِير adj
- Portuguese: pobre adj
- Russian: бедный adj бедная
- Croatian: siromašan adj siromašna
- Czech: chudý adj
- Danish: fattig adj
- Dutch: arm adj
- Finnish: köyhä adj
- Greek: φτωχός adj φτωχή
- Italian: povero adj povera
- Japanese: 貧しい adj
- Korean: 가난한 adj
- Norwegian: fattig adj
- Polish: biedny adj biedna
- Brazilian Portuguese: pobre adj
- European Spanish:
pobre
adj
- Swedish: fattig adj fattigt
- Thai: ยากจน adj
- Turkish: yoksul adj
- Vietnamese: nghèo adj
Usage examples
The original Koba was a Georgian robber who protected the poor from their oppressors.
, CHAMELEON (2002)Besides fit, the bike should make training in poor weather as effective as possible.
Cycling Weekly (2004)They have actually widened the gap between rich and poor and between men and women in every single budget.
Irish Times (2002)'More research is needed for poor farmers to benefit from, rather than pay the cost of, conserving biodiversity.
Glasgow Herald (2001)Instead the poor man exchanged them at the British Indian plantation for another species of cinchona seed.
, THE MEDICAL MYSTERIES E-OMNIBUS (2001)