poor
/pʊɚ/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
archaic/pʊə/
poor adjective: with no or few possessions or money, particularly in relation to contemporaries who do have them.
Adjective
poor (comparative poorer, superlative poorest)
- With no or few possessions or money, particularly in relation to contemporaries who do have them.
- We were so poor that we couldn't afford shoes.
- England is growne to ſuch a paſſe of late,
That rich men triumph to ſee the poore beg at their gate.1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], →OCLC, Act I
- Of low quality.
- That was a poor performance.
- He looked round the poor room, at the distempered walls, and the bad engravings in meretricious frames, the crinkly paper and wax flowers on the chiffonier; and he thought of a room like Father Bryan's, with panelling, with cut glass, with tulips in silver pots, such a room as he had hoped to have...1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter X, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC
- Antonyms:
- good
- Worthy of pity.
- Oh, you poor thing, you're drenched!
- This poor little puppy got a nasty snake bite.
- Synonyms:
- pitiable, pitisome, rueful, compassionate, pathetic, pathetisad, piteous, pitiful, sad, ruthful
- Deficient in a specified way.
- Cow's milk is poor in iron.
- Inadequate, insufficient.
- I received a poor reward for all my hard work.
- Business is poor right now.
- Synonyms:
- dismal, meager, slender, awanting, deficient, exiguous, geason, inadequate, insufficient, lank
- Free from self-assertion; not proud or arrogant; meek.
- Blessed are the poor in spirit.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 5:3
- Synonyms:
- demure, modest, self-effacing, abased, diffident, humble, humble-hearted, low, lowly, meek
Noun (1)
poor pl (plural only)
- The poor people of a society or the world collectively, the poor class of a society.
- ...when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might haue bin sold for much, and giuen to the poore. When Iesus vnderstood it, he said vnto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good worke vpon me. For ye haue the poore...1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 26:8-11
- Harry Truman used to say that 13 or 14 million Americans had their interests represented in Washington, but that the rest of the people had to depend on the President of the United States. That is how I felt about the 35 million American poor. They had no voice and no champion. Whatever the cost, I...1971, Lyndon Johnson, The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 39
- the second-to-last placer in Tycoon
- Antonyms:
- rich
Noun (2)
poor (plural poors)
Verb
poor (third-person singular simple present poors, present participle pooring, simple past and past participle poored)
- Synonym of impoverish, to make poor.
- It is very evident that Americans are being ‘poored down’ to suit the world socialist agenda, and to maximize profits for the international corporations.2003 August 10, Dallas News, p. 3
- Synonyms:
- beggar, pauperize, ruin, depauperate, depauperize, destitute, embeggar, empoverish, immiserate, impoor
- To become poor.
- The mone of this realme is born out in gret quantite and the realme puryt of the sammyn.1467, Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, Vol. II, p. 88
- To call someone poor.
- Miss Lavinia... put in that she didn't want to be ‘poored by pa,’ or anybody else.1864 May – 1865 November, Charles Dickens, Our Mutual Friend. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1865, →OCLC, page 27
Proper noun capitalized: Poor
Poor (plural Poors)
- A surname
poor meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
poor in Hindi
- with few or no possessions or money
- ग़रीब ġarīb, दीन dīn, फ़क़ीर faqīr, फकीर phakīr, मिस्कीन miskīn, बेचारा becārā
- used to express pity
- मिस्कीन miskīn, बदबख्त badbakht, बेचारा becārā
- the poor people of a society or the world collectively, the poor class of a society
- फ़क़ीर faqīr, फकीर phakīr
poor in Tamil
- with few or no possessions or money
- ஏழை ēḻai, ஏழ்மையான ēḻmaiyāṉa, வறுமையான vaṟumaiyāṉa
- used to express pity
- பாவம் pāvam
- the poor people of a society or the world collectively, the poor class of a society
- ஏழை ēḻai
poor in Marathi
- with few or no possessions or money
- गरीब garīb, दीन dīn
- the poor people of a society or the world collectively, the poor class of a society
- गरीब garīb
poor in Urdu
- with few or no possessions or money
- غریب ġarīb, دین dīn
More languagesFewer languages
- poor in Bengali
- গরীব gorib, দরিদ্র doridro, মিসকিন miśokin, বেচারা becara
- poor in Telugu
- బీద bīda, పేద pēda, నాసి nāsi, నాసి రకం nāsi rakaṁ
- poor in Malayalam
- നിർധന niṟdhana, ഇല്ലാത്ത illātta
- poor in Kannada
- ಬಡ, ಮೊಲ್ಲೆಗ, ಬಡವನಾದ, ಬಡತನದ
- poor in Punjabi
- غریب ġarīb, ਕੰਗਾਲ kaṅgāl, ਗ਼ਰੀਬ ġarīb, ماڑا māṛā
- poor in Gujarati
- રાંકું rā̃kũ, ગરીબ garīb, બિચારું bicārũ
- poor in Odia
- ଦରିଦ୍ର daridra
- poor in Sanskrit
- दीन dīna, ध्रिगु dhrigu
- poor in Sinhala
- දිළිඳ diḷiⁿda
- poor in Assamese
- দুখীয়া dukhia
- poor in Pashto
- بېچاره bečāra, غريب ǧarib, فقير faqir
- poor in Tagalog
- mahirap, dukha, maralita
- poor in Arabic
- فَقِير faqīr, مِسْكِين miskīn, فُقَرَاء fuqarāʔ
- poor in Malay
- miskin, teruk
- poor in Indonesian
- miskin, buruk, malang
- poor in Persian
- فقیر faqir, مسکین meskin, ضعیف za'if, بدبخت badbaxt
- poor in Thai
- จน jon, ยากจน yaak-jon
- poor in Vietnamese
- nghèo, khó, tội nghiệp, tội
- poor in Myanmar
- ဆင်းရဲ hcang:rai:
Examples of poor in a sentence
- The sun shines on the rich and the poor alike but, come the rain, the rich have better umbrellas.
- The poor are always with us.
- The rich are often so insulated from reality that they think the poor have extra money they could save for more than a short time.
- When Owenism and Chartism had burned themselves out, England had become poorer by that substance out of which the Anglo-Saxon ideal of a free society could have been built up for centuries to come.1957 [1944], Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation, Beacon Press: Boston, page 167:
- The poorest of the poor are truly destitute, with so few assets they are basically shackless.2014, George W. Norton, Hunger and Hope: Escaping Poverty and Achieving Food Security in Developing ...:
- Meanwhile, due to a lack of wind, air quality in west Taiwan was poor yesterday, the Environmental Protection Administration said.2021 March 28, “Taiwan News Quick Take”, in Taipei Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 Mar 2021, Taiwan News, page 3:
Synonyms of poor
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- broken
- broker than the Ten Commandments
- destitute
- dirt poor
- disadvantaged
- down and out
- down at heel
- down on one's luck
- down on one's uppers
- empty-handed
- farthingless
- feeling the pinch
- flat
- goodless
- hard up
- impoverished
- in need
- indigent
- insolvent
- lower-class
- moneyless
- necessitous
- pauperized
- penniless
- penurious
- pinched
- pok kai
- poor as a church mouse
- poor as a rat
- poor as Job
Antonyms
Forms of poor
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | poorer |
| superlative | poorest |
| Noun | |
| plural | poors |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | poors |
| present participle | pooring |
| past participle | poored |
| past | poored |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Poors |
Origin of poor
Inherited from Middle English povre, povere, from Old French and Anglo-Norman povre, poure, from Latin pauper, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, small”). Doublet of pauper. Displanced native wantsome, Middle English unlede (“poor”, from Old English unlǣde), Middle English unweli, unwely (“poor, unwealthy”, from Old English un- + weliġ (“well-to-do, prosperous, rich”)) and almost fully arm.
Words formed from poor
- antipoor
- being poor is a mindset
- being poor is a state of mind
- cash-poor
- cash poor
- court poor box
- dirt-poor
- dirt poor
- fuel-poor
- have a poor time of it
- house poor
- impoor
- income-poor
- in poor taste
- insurance poor
- iron-poor
- land-poor
- land poor
- Little Sister of the Poor
- make a poor fist of
- metal-poor
- nonpoor
- oxygen-poor
- piss on the poor
- piss-poor
- piss poor
- poor as a barber's cat
- poor as a church mouse
- poor as a rat
- poor as Job
- poor as Job's turkey
- poor box
- poor boy
- poor dab
- poor devil
- poor diddums
- poor doer
- poor door
- poor farm
- poor form
- poorhouse
- poor house
- poor is a mindset
- poor is a state of mind
- poorish
- poorism
- poor-john
- poor knights of Windsor
- poor law
- poor law union
- poorling
- poor little boy
- poor little girl
- poor little meow meow
- poor little rich boy
- poor little rich girl
- poor loser
- poorly
- poor man of mutton
- poor man's
Phrases with poor
- poor cod
- poor old
- Poor Tom
- poor boys
- poor cods
- poor dabs
- Poor John
- Poor Lady
- poor laws
- poor rate
- poor show
- Poor Toms
73 more phrasesFewer phrases
- poor boxes
- Poor Clare
- poor doors
- poor farms
- Poor Johns
- poor metal
- poor mouth
- poor power
- poor pussy
- poor rates
- poor sport
- poor thing
- quite poor
- Poor Clares
- poor devils
- poor houses
- Poor Ladies
- poor losers
- poor metals
- poor mouths
- poor relief
- poor sports
- poor things
- poor mouthed
- working poor
- poor mouthing
- poor relation
- as poor as Job
- deserving poor
- poor relations
- poor law unions
- poor man's cake
- poor man's soap
- court poor boxes
- poor man's goose
- poor man's latte
- poor man's pizza
- poor man's sauce
- poor man's steak
- poor white trash
- undeserving poor
- poor man's butter
- poor man's caviar
- poor man's fridge
- poor man's lattes
- poor man's manure
- poor man's orchid
- poor man's pepper
- poor man's cabbage
- poor man's cocaine
- poor man's diamond
- poor man's ginseng
- poor man's lobster
- poor man's mustard
- poor man's Tiffany
- poor man's concrete
- poor man's shilling
- poor man's umbrella
- poor man's asparagus
- poor man's copyright
- poor man's racehorse
- poor man's umbrellas
- had a poor time of it
- has a poor time of it
- poor little rich boys
- poor little meow meows
- poor little rich girls
- poor man's black velvet
- poor man's weatherglass
- having a poor time of it
- poor man's weatherglasses
- Little Sisters of the Poor
- the poor we will always have with us
Words that rhyme with poor
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- obscure
- amour
- assure
- boor
- immure
- impure
- lure
- recure
- immature
- inure
- manure
- moor
- cour
- Darfur
- demure
- du jour
- fure
- insecure
- liqueur
- mure
- reassure
- roture
- Ruhr
- unsure
- adure
- allure
- bonheur du jour
- bonjour
- brochure
- bure
- chaussure
- combure
- couture
- de jour
- dhuhr
- dure
- guipure
- Kapur
- L'Anse Amour
- Namur
- parkour
- parure
- plat du jour
- poseur
- purpure
- smoor
- soup du jour
- spoor
Questions about poor
- What does poor mean?
- Poor means with no or few possessions or money, particularly in relation to contemporaries who do have them.
- What is poor in Hindi?
- Poor in Hindi is ग़रीब (ġarīb), दीन (dīn), फ़क़ीर (faqīr). See Poor meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use poor in a sentence?
- The sun shines on the rich and the poor alike but, come the rain, the rich have better umbrellas.
- What part of speech is poor?
- Poor can be an adjective, a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce poor?
- Poor is pronounced /pʊɚ/.
Words near poor in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: poor (page history and authors); Poor (page history and authors); ഇല്ലാത്ത (Malayalam) (page history and authors); poor (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); غریب (Punjabi) (page history and authors); ଦରିଦ୍ର (Odia) (page history and authors); දිළිඳ (Sinhala) (page history and authors); দুখীয়া (Assamese) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-poor.ogg, en-uk-poor.ogg.
Cite this entry: “poor.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/poor. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.