| poor relation | |
| —n | |
| a person or thing considered inferior to another or others: plastic is a poor relation of real leather | |
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| a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc. |
| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
poor relation
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.