poormouth

poormouth noun: a poor (impoverished) person, or one who claims to be so; especially, one who cries poormouth (conspicuously makes this claim).

Noun

poormouth (plural poormouths)

A poor (impoverished) person, or one who claims to be so; especially, one who cries poormouth (conspicuously makes this claim).
- Writing in The Observer the other week about his brief visit to Montreal, Mr. St. John Ervine, in his characteristically direct and concise fashion, expresses himself in a practical way that should not be without effect. […] "This is no continent for poormouths, for people who cannot do this or...1929 March 23, St. John Greer Ervine, quotee, “Book and Periodical News and Notes [column]”, in The Newspaper World, number 1628, page 8
- Two long-haul truckers shared space at the counter with two bachelor farmers. They were talking freight rates and futures prices and the truckers were having a good year. The two farmers weren't. They were notorious poormouths, those two, and too stingy to ever get married. The truckers seemed...2003, Rod Cochran, Bear Hollow, Infinity, →ISBN, page 227

poormouth (third-person singular simple present poormouths, present participle poormouthing, simple past and past participle poormouthed)

(ambitransitive, informal) To claim to be poor.
- On the other hand one does not want to arrive “poor-mouthing it” in some outrageous turtleneck and West Eighth Street bell-jean combination, as if one is “funky” and of “the people.”1970 June 8, Tom Wolfe, “Radical Chic: That Party at Lenny's”, in New York Magazine
- Joking dialogue in the opening scene (Putnam and Ellen at Putnam's house) gives the impression that Putnam doesn't have a lot of money. Or maybe he just poormouths himself to give Ellen that wrong impression: His ride is a hot-off-the-assembly-line Ford Crestline Sunliner, "newest and smartest car...2017, Tom Weaver, David Schecter, Robert J. Kiss, Steve Kronenberg, “It Came from Outer Space (1953)”, in Universal Terrors, 1951-1955: Eight Classic Horror and Science Fiction Films, McFarland...
Synonyms:

cry poormouth
(rare, transitive) To badmouth (someone or something).
- […] of course, such spirited defense of their ships is, up to a point, praiseworthy. And certainly any skipper who poormouths his own ship should be fired. On the other hand, the mature naval officer, if he is to make the most effective contributions possible to his Navy over the years, both at sea...1973, Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute, volume 99, United States Naval Institute, page 96

They were notorious poormouths, those two, and too stingy to ever get married.2003, Rod Cochran, Bear Hollow, Infinity, →ISBN, page 227:
And certainly any skipper who poormouths his own ship should be fired.1973, Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute, volume 99, United States Naval Institute, page 96:

Noun
plural	poormouths
alternative form	poor-mouth
alternative form	poor mouth
Verb
third-person singular present	poormouths
present participle	poormouthing
past participle	poormouthed
past	poormouthed

From poor + mouth.

What does poormouth mean?: Poormouth means a poor (impoverished) person, or one who claims to be so; especially, one who cries poormouth (conspicuously makes this claim).
How do you use poormouth in a sentence?: They were notorious poormouths, those two, and too stingy to ever get married.
What part of speech is poormouth?: Poormouth can be a noun or a verb.
What is the plural of poormouth?: The plural of poormouth is poormouths.

Adapted from Wiktionary: poormouth (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: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “poormouth.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/poormouth. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.