Poor definition
Not adequate in quality or quantity; inferior.
A poor performance; poor wages.
adjective
Deficient or lacking in a specified resource or quality.
An area poor in timber and coal; a diet poor in calcium.
adjective
Undernourished; lean. Used especially of animals.
adjective
Lacking in some quality or thing.
- Lacking abundance; scanty; inadequate.poor crops.
- Lacking productivity; barren; sterile.poor soil.
- Lacking nourishment; feeble; emaciated.A poor body.
- Lacking excellence or worth; below average, inferior, bad, etc. or paltry, mean, insignificant, etc.
- Lacking good moral or mental qualities; mean-spirited; contemptible.
- Lacking pleasure, comfort, or satisfaction.To have a poor time.
- Lacking skill.
adjective
Humble; meek.
adjective
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Negative, unfavorable, or disapproving.
Has a poor opinion of the mayor.
adjective
To be pitied.
Oh you poor little thing.
adjective
Poor people considered as a group.
The urban poor are in need of homes.
noun
The definition of poor is having little money or belongings, or lacking something.
An example of poor is living below the poverty line.
An example of poor used as an adjective is the phrase poor communication skills which means that a person cannot communicate well with others.
adjective
Poor is defined as people with little to no money or belongings.
An example of the poor is everyone who lives in poverty.
noun
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Eliciting or deserving pity; pitiable.
Couldn't rescue the poor fellow.
adjective
Having insufficient wealth to meet the necessities or comforts of life or to live in a manner considered acceptable in a society.
adjective
Relating to or characterized by poverty.
The poor side of town.
adjective
Worthy of pity; unfortunate.
adjective
Lacking material possessions; having little or no means to support oneself; needy; impoverished.
adjective
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Indicating or characterized by poverty.
adjective
Of low quality.
That was a poor performance.
adjective
Deficient in a specified way.
Cow's milk is poor in iron.
adjective
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Free from self-assertion; not proud or arrogant; meek.
adjective
(with "the") Those who have little or no possessions or money, taken as a group.
The poor are always with us.
noun
the poor
- poor, or needy, people collectively
idiom
Other Word Forms
Adjective
Base Form:
poor
Comparative:
poorer
Superlative:
poorestIdioms and Phrasal Verbs
the poor
Origin of poor
- Middle English poure from Old French povre from Latin pauper pau-1 in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- From Middle English povre, povere, from Old French (Anglo-Norman) povre, poure (Modern French pauvre), from Latin pauper, from Old Latin *pavo-pars (“getting little"), from Proto-Indo-European *ph₁w- (“smallness"). Cognate with Old English fÄ“awa (“little, few"). Displaced native Middle English earm, arm (“poor") (from Old English earm; See arm), Middle English wantsum, wantsome (“poor, needy") (from Old Norse vant (“deficiency, lack, want"), Middle English unlede (“poor") (from Old English unlÇ£de, Middle English unweli, unwely (“poor, unwealthy") (from Old English un- + weliÄ¡ (“well-to-do, prosperous, rich").
From Wiktionary