Definition of 'poor'
Word forms: poorer, poorest
1. adjective
Someone who is poor has very little money and few possessions.
2. adjective
The people in a poor country or area have very little money and few possessions.
Many countries in the developing world are as poor as they have ever been.
3. adjective [ADJ n]
You use poor to express your sympathy for someone.
[feelings]
4. adjective
If you describe something as poor, you mean that it is of a low quality or standard or that it is in bad condition.
5. adjective
If you describe an amount, rate, or number as poor, you mean that it is less than expected or less than is considered reasonable.
6. adjective
You use poor to describe someone who is not very skillful in a particular activity.
7. adjective [v-link ADJ in n]
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Video: pronunciation of
poor
Word Frequency
poor in American English
adjective
1.
a.
lacking material possessions; having little or no means to support oneself; needy; impoverished
b.
indicating or characterized by poverty
2.
lacking in some quality or thing
; specif.,
d.
lacking excellence or worth; below average, inferior, bad, etc. or paltry, mean, insignificant, etc.
e.
g.
lacking skill
3.
worthy of pity; unfortunate
Idioms:
SYNONYMY NOTE: poor is the simple, direct term for one who lacks the resources for reasonably comfortable
living; impoverished (see impoverish) is applied to one who having once had plenty is now reduced to poverty [an impoverished aristocrat]; destitute implies such great poverty that the means for mere subsistence, such as food and
shelter, are lacking [left destitute by the war]; impecunious applies to one in a habitual state of poverty and suggests that this results from
personal practices [an impecunious gambler]; indigent implies such relative poverty as results in a lack of luxuries and the endurance
of hardships [books for indigent children] OPPOSITES: rich, wealthy
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Derived forms
poorness (ˈpoorness)
noun
Word Frequency
poor in American English
(pur) (adjective -er, -est)
adjective
1.
having little or no money, goods, or other means of support
a poor family living on welfare
4.
characterized by or showing poverty
5.
deficient or lacking in something specified
a region poor in mineral deposits
12.
scanty, meager, or paltry in amount or number
a poor audience
14.
unfortunate; hapless
The poor dog was limping
15. See poor as a church mouse
16. See poor as Job's turkey
noun
In the North and North Midland U.S., the vowel of poor is most often (u). poor and sure thus contrast with pour and shore: (pur), (ʃur) versus (pɔr), (ʃɔr) or (pour), (ʃour). In the South Midland and South, the vowel of poor is generally (ɔ) or (ou) (often with the final (r) dropped), which means that in these areas, poor and pour are homophones, as are sure and shore. Both types of pronunciation exist in the British Isles.17. (used with a pl. v.; usually prec. by the)
poor persons collectively
sympathy for the poor
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
poorness noun
Word Frequency
poor in British English
adjective
1.
a.
4. (when postpositive, usually foll by in)
a region poor in wild flowers
5.
lacking in quality; inferior
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
poorness (ˈpoorness) noun
Word origin
C13: from Old French povre, from Latin pauper; see pauper, povertyExamples of 'poor' in a sentence
poor
These examples have been automatically selected and may contain sensitive content. Read more…
Quotations
The poor always ye have with you Bible: St. John
Poor and content is rich and rich enoughOthello
More idioms containing
poor
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poor
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In other languages
poor
British English: poor
/pɔːˌ pʊə/ ADJECTIVE
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.
- American English: poor /ˈpʊər/
- Arabic: فَقِير
- Brazilian Portuguese: pobre
- Chinese: 贫穷的
- Croatian: siromašan
- Czech: chudý
- Danish: fattig
- Dutch: arm
- European Spanish: pobre
- Finnish: köyhä
- French: pauvre
- German: arm
- Greek: φτωχός
- Italian: povero
- Japanese: 貧しい
- Korean: 가난한
- Norwegian: fattig
- Polish: biedny
- European Portuguese: pobre
- Romanian: sărac
- Russian: бедный
- Spanish: pobre
- Swedish: fattig
- Thai: ยากจน
- Turkish: yoksul
- Ukrainian: бідний
- Vietnamese: nghèo
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poor
Source
Definition of poor from the Collins English Dictionary
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