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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.
EXPANDdeficient 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.
COLLAPSEunfortunate; hapless: The poor dog was limping.
noun
15.
(used with a plural verb) poor persons collectively (usually preceded by the): sympathy for the poor.
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Poorness
is always a great word to know.
So is lollapalooza. Does it mean:
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
| an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance. |
16.
poor as a church mouse, extremely poor.
17.
poor as Job's turkey, extremely poor; impoverished.
Related forms
poor·ness, noun
non·poor, noun
qua·si-poor, adjective
qua·si-poor·ly, adverb
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.
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.
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. EXPANDBoth types of pronunciation exist in the British Isles
COLLAPSE
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. EXPANDBoth types of pronunciation exist in the British IslesCOLLAPSE
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
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Link To poorness
Collins
World English Dictionary
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
poor
c.1200, from O.Fr. poure (Fr. pauvre), from L. pauper "poor," perhaps a compound of paucus "little" and parare "to get." Replaced O.E. earm. Poorhouse is from 1781. The poor boy sandwich, made of simple but filling ingredients, was invented and named in New Orleans in 1921. To poor mouth "deny one's
EXPAND advantages" is from 1965 (to make a poor mouth "whine" is Scot. dial. from 1822). Slang poor man's ________ "the cheaper alternative to _______," is from 1854.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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