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Definition of poor - 3 dictionary results

poor

  [poor] adjective, -er, -est, noun
Use poor in a Sentence
–adjective
1. having little or no money, goods, or other means of support: a poor family living on welfare.
2. Law. dependent upon charity or public support.
3. (of a country, institution, etc.) meagerly supplied or endowed with resources or funds.
4. characterized by or showing poverty.
5. deficient or lacking in something specified: a region poor in mineral deposits.
6. faulty or inferior, as in construction: poor workmanship.
7. deficient in desirable ingredients, qualities, or the like: poor soil.
8. excessively lean or emaciated, as cattle.
9. of an inferior, inadequate, or unsatisfactory kind: poor health.
10. lacking in skill, ability, or training: a poor cook.
11. deficient in moral excellence; cowardly, abject, or mean.
12. scanty, meager, or paltry in amount or number: a poor audience.
13. humble; modest: They shared their poor meal with a stranger.
14. unfortunate; hapless: The poor dog was limping.
–noun
15. (used with a plural verb) poor persons collectively (usually prec. by the): sympathy for the poor.
—Idioms
16. poor as a church mouse, extremely poor.
17. poor as Job's turkey, extremely poor; impoverished.
Origin:
1150–1200; ME pov(e)re < OF povre < L pauper. See pauper

Related forms:
poorness, noun

Synonyms:
1. needy, indigent, necessitous, straitened, destitute, penniless, poverty-stricken. Poor, impecunious, impoverished, penniless refer to those lacking money. Poor is the simple term for the condition of lacking means to obtain the comforts of life: a very poor family. Impecunious often suggests that the poverty is a consequence of unwise habits: an impecunious actor. Impoverished often implies a former state of greater plenty, from which one has been reduced: the impoverished aristocracy. Penniless may mean destitute, or it may apply simply to a temporary condition of being without funds: The widow was left penniless with three small children. 5. meager. 6. unsatisfactory, shabby. 7. sterile, barren, unfruitful, unproductive. 8. thin, skinny, meager, gaunt. 14. miserable, unhappy, pitiable.

Antonyms:
1, 5, 7. rich. 1, 3, 4. wealthy.

Pronunciation note:
In the North and North Midland U.S., the vowel of poor is most often [oo] . Poor and sure thus contrast with pour and shore:  [poor],  [shoor] versus [pawr],  [shawr] or [pohr],  [shohr]. In the South Midland and South, the vowel of poor is generally [aw] or [oh] (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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To poor
poor   (pŏŏr)   
adj.   poor·er, poor·est

  1. Having little or no wealth and few or no possessions.

  2. Lacking in a specified resource or quality: an area poor in timber and coal; a diet poor in calcium.

  3. Not adequate in quality; inferior: a poor performance.

    1. Lacking in value; insufficient: poor wages.

    2. Lacking in quantity: poor attendance.

  5. Lacking fertility: poor soil.

  6. Undernourished; lean.

  7. Humble: a poor spirit.

  8. Eliciting or deserving pity; pitiable: couldn't rescue the poor fellow.

n.   (used with a pl. verb)
People with little or no wealth and possessions considered as a group: The urban poor are in need of homes.

[Middle English poure, from Old French povre, from Latin pauper; see pau-1 in Indo-European roots.]
poor'ness n.
Synonyms: These adjectives mean lacking the money or the means for an adequate or comfortable life. Poor is the most general: "Resolve not to be poor: whatever you have, spend less. Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness" (Samuel Johnson).
Indigent and needy refer to one in need or want: indigent people living on the street; distributed food to needy families.
Impecunious and penniless mean having little or no money: "Certainly an impecunious Subaltern was not a catch" (Rudyard Kipling). He made poor investments which left him penniless.
One who is impoverished has been reduced to poverty: an impoverished, third-world country.
Poverty-stricken means suffering from poverty and miserably poor: refugees living in poverty-stricken camps.
Destitute means lacking any means of subsistence: tenants left destitute by the fire.
Usage Note: In informal speech poor is sometimes used as an adverb, as in They never played poorer. In formal usage more poorly would be required in this example.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Bible Dictionary

Poor

The Mosaic legislation regarding the poor is specially important. (1.) They had the right of gleaning the fields (Lev. 19:9, 10; Deut. 24:19,21). (2.) In the sabbatical year they were to have their share of the produce of the fields and the vineyards (Ex. 23:11; Lev. 25:6). (3.) In the year of jubilee they recovered their property (Lev. 25:25-30). (4.) Usury was forbidden, and the pledged raiment was to be returned before the sun went down (Ex. 22:25-27; Deut. 24:10-13). The rich were to be generous to the poor (Deut. 15:7-11). (5.) In the sabbatical and jubilee years the bond-servant was to go free (Deut. 15:12-15; Lev. 25:39-42, 47-54). (6.) Certain portions from the tithes were assigned to the poor (Deut. 14:28, 29; 26:12, 13). (7.) They shared in the feasts (Deut. 16:11, 14; Neh. 8:10). (8.) Wages were to be paid at the close of each day (Lev. 19:13). In the New Testament (Luke 3:11; 14:13; Acts 6:1; Gal. 2:10; James 2:15, 16) we have similar injunctions given with reference to the poor. Begging was not common under the Old Testament, while it was so in the New Testament times (Luke 16:20, 21, etc.). But begging in the case of those who are able to work is forbidden, and all such are enjoined to "work with their own hands" as a Christian duty (1 Thess. 4:11; 2 Thess. 3:7-13; Eph. 4:28). This word is used figuratively in Matt. 5:3; Luke 6:20; 2 Cor. 8:9; Rev. 3:17.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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