Poor

/pʊər/

Meaning & Definition

noun

a person of low social status or economic standing.

The charity focused on helping the poor in the inner city.

adjective

lacking sufficient money to live at a standard considered comfortable or normal in a society.

Despite working two jobs, she was still considered poor by her community.

having little or no wealth; lacking material possessions.

The village was made up of poor families struggling to make ends meet.

of a low quality or standard.

The poor quality of the materials used in the construction led to significant damage.

inferior in ability, quality, or performance.

He received poor marks on his exam due to a lack of preparation.

Middle English, from Old French 'povre', from Latin 'pauper' meaning 'poor' or 'needy'.

poor as a church mouse

very poor or impoverished.

poor little rich girl

a term used to describe someone who is wealthy but feels sorry for themselves.

poor thing

a term used to express sympathy for someone's unfortunate situation.

poverty

the state of being extremely poor.

impoverished

made poor or deprived of strength.

deprivation

the state of lacking or being devoid of something.

Broke

I can't go out tonight; I'm broke.

Scraping by

I'm just scraping by on my income.

Living paycheck to paycheck

They are living paycheck to paycheck and can’t save any money.