[ UK /pˈɔː/ ]
[ US /ˈpuɹ/ ]
ADJECTIVE
  1. characterized by or indicating poverty
    they lived in the poor section of town
    the country had a poor economy
  2. having little money or few possessions
    deplored the gap between rich and poor countries
    the proverbial poor artist living in a garret
  3. of insufficient quantity to meet a need
    short on experience
    money is short
    food is in short supply
    on short rations
    an inadequate income
    the jejune diets of the very poor
    a poor salary
  4. deserving or inciting pity
    a pitiful fate
    pitiable homeless children
    Oh, you poor thing
    his poor distorted limbs
    a wretched life
    a hapless victim
    miserable victims of war
    his poor distorted limbs
    the shabby room struck her as extraordinarily pathetic
    piteous appeals for help
  5. lacking in quality or substances
    the area was poor in timber and coal
    a poor land
    food poor in nutritive value
    the food in the cafeteria was of poor quality
NOUN
  1. people without possessions or wealth (considered as a group)
    the urban poor need assistance
Linguix Browser extension
Fix your writing
on millions of websites
Get Started For Free Linguix pencil

How To Use poor In A Sentence

  • The poor bugger has nowhere else to sleep.
  • Dance the coxswain was the first affected in that way, but after a few moments Mark felt that the poor fellow had been suffering in The Black Bar
  • My poor Lirriper was a handsome figure of a man, with a beaming eye and a voice as mellow as a musical instrument made of honey and steel, but he had ever been a free liver being in the commercial travelling line and travelling what he called a limekiln road — “a dry road, Emma my dear,” my poor Lirriper says to me, “where I have to lay the dust with one drink or another all day long and half the night, and it wears me Emma” — and this led to his running through a good deal and might have run through the turnpike too when that dreadful horse that never would stand still for a single instant set off, but for its being night and the gate shut and consequently took his wheel, my poor Lirriper and the gig smashed to atoms and never spoke afterwards. Mrs. Lirriper's Lodgings
  • A poor game was redeemed in the second half by a couple of superb goals from Anthony Edwards.
  • I was a little miffed that we'd had such a poor fishing day. Times, Sunday Times
  • Though serfs were freed in 1864, they remained poor sharecroppers and staged a massive peasant uprising in 1907.
  • With no warning signs on either side and under poor lighting, the road is a death trap for motorists.
  • Although these vegetables adapt well to our temperate climate, they tend to crop poorly.
  • A partially blind, poor, black man with little or no book learning outside of the Bible heard a call.
  • Since corporate America is more interested in hoarding than rehiring, the New Poor are going to be around for awhile. Mark Olmsted: No Pizza, No Peace: The New Poor and the Coming Blowback
View all
This website uses cookies to make Linguix work for you. By using this site, you agree to our cookie policy