Etimology
Inherited from Middle English povre, povere, from Old French (and Anglo-Norman) povre, poure, from Latin pauper, from Old Latin *pavo-pars (literally “getting little”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, small”). Doublet of pauper. Displaced native arm, 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”)).
adjective
poor (comparative poorer, superlative poorest)
With no or few possessions or money, particularly in relation to contemporaries who do have them.
Of low quality.
(attributive only) Worthy of pity.
Deficient in a specified way.
Inadequate, insufficient.
Free from self-assertion; not proud or arrogant; meek.
Examples
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:impoverished
Antonyms: rich, wealthy
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.
Synonym: inferior
Antonym: good
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 for his own.
Meanwhile, due to a lack of wind, air quality in west Taiwan was poor yesterday, the Environmental Protection Administration said. Air quality could deteriorate early this morning, triggering a “red” alert — which signals unhealthy air quality — in some parts of Yunlin, Chiayi and Tainan counties, it said.
Synonym: pitiable
Oh, you poor thing, you're drenched!
This poor little puppy got a nasty snake bite.
Thanks to that penny he had just spent so recklessly [on a newspaper] he would pass a happy hour, taken, for once, out of his anxious, despondent, miserable self. It irritated him shrewdly to know that these moments of respite from carking care would not be shared with his poor wife, with careworn, troubled Ellen.
Mr. Campion sighed. ‘Poor man,’ he said. ‘He sees his great sacrifices rejected by the gods, and so, no doubt, all the Misses Eumenides let loose again to plague him.’
Antonym: rich
Cow's milk is poor in iron.
Antonyms: adequate, decent
I received a poor reward for all my hard work.
That I have wronged no Man, will be a poor plea or apology at the last day.
The temptation was more than mortal heart could resist. She gave him the promise he sought, stifling the voice of conscience; and as she clung to his neck it seemed to her that heaven was a poor thing compared with a man's love.
Blessed are the poor in spirit.
Related words
related terms
few
paucal
pauci-
paucity
pauper
noun
poor (plural only)
(plural only) The poor people of a society or the world collectively, the poor class of a society.
Examples
...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 alwayes with you, but me ye haue not alwayes.
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 was determined to represent them. Through me they would have an advocate and, I believed, new hope.
Then there have not always been proletarians?No. There have always been poor and working classes; and those who worked were almost always the poor. But there have not always been proletarians, just as competition has not always been free.
This is the same Randian bullshit that we've been hearing from people like Brooks for ages and its entire premise is really revolting and insulting—this idea that the way society works is that the productive "rich" feed the needy "poor," and that any attempt by the latter to punish the former for "excesses" might inspire Atlas to Shrug his way out of town and leave the helpless poor on their own to starve. That's basically Brooks's entire argument here. Yes, the rich and powerful do rig the game in their own favor, and yes, they are guilty of "excesses"—but fucking deal with it, if you want to eat.
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.
noun
poor (plural poors)
(countable, originally chiefly Scotland) A poor person.
(obsolete) Synonym of poor cod.
Examples
The poors are at it again.
...me vint of ane king to huam a poure acsede ane peny...
He had given somewhat to every poore in the Parish.
I don't understand, Simmons! I have all the money in the world, but I'm still unhappy! […] It must be the poors! Those leeches have been stealing my happiness somehow!
verb
poor (third-person singular simple present poors, present participle pooring, simple past and past participle poored)
(transitive, rare) Synonym of impoverish, to make poor.
(intransitive, obsolete) To become poor.
(obsolete) To call poor.
Examples
It is very evident that Americans are being ‘poored down’ to suit the world socialist agenda, and to maximize profits for the international corporations.
The mone of this realme is born out in gret quantite and the realme puryt of the sammyn.
Miss Lavinia... put in that she didn't want to be ‘poored by pa,’ or anybody else.