poor S1 W1 /pɔː $ pʊr/ BrE AmE adjective ( comparative poorer , superlative poorest )
[ Date: 1100-1200 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: povre , from Latin pauper ]
1 . NO MONEY
a) having very little money and not many possessions OPP rich :
Her family were so poor they couldn’t afford to buy her new clothes.
an area where poor people lived
one of the poorest countries in the world
a poor part of Chicago (=where a lot of poor people live)
My grandparents grew up dirt poor (=very poor) .
desperately/extremely poor
Many of the families are desperately poor.
b) the poor [plural] people who are poor:
It’s the government’s responsibility to help the poor.
the rural/urban/working poor
tax relief for the working poor
2 . NOT GOOD not as good as it could be or should be:
The soil in this area is very poor.
poor rates of pay
He blames himself for the team’s poor performance.
of poor quality (=not made well or not made of good materials)
The jacket was of very poor quality.
poor hearing/eyesight/memory
Her hearing is poor, so speak fairly loudly.
make/do a poor job of doing something
The builders did a really poor job of fixing our roof.
3 . SYMPATHY [only before noun] spoken used to show sympathy for someone because they are so unlucky, unhappy etc:
Poor kid, he’s had a rough day.
You poor thing, you’ve had a hard time of it, haven’t you?
Poor old Ted was sick for weeks.
4 . NOT GOOD AT SOMETHING not good at doing something:
a poor public speaker
poor at
He’s poor at sports.
5 . HEALTH someone whose health is poor is ill or weak for a long period of time:
My parents are both in rather poor health.
6 . poor in something lacking something that is needed:
The country is poor in natural resources.
7 . a poor second/third etc the act of finishing a race, competition etc a long way behind the person ahead of you:
McLean won easily, and Benson was a poor second.
come (in) a poor second/third etc British English :
The Socialists came a poor second with 26.5% of the vote.
8 . the poor man’s somebody used to say that someone is like a very famous performer, writer etc but is not as good as they are:
He was the poor man’s Elvis Presley.
9 . the poor man’s something used to say that something can be used for the same purpose as something else, and is much cheaper:
Herring is the poor man’s salmon.
10 . poor relation British English someone or something that is not treated as well as other members of a group or is much less successful than they are
poor relation of
Theatre musicians tend to be the poor relations of the musical profession.
⇨ be in bad/poor taste at ↑ taste 1 (6), ⇨ ↑ poorly
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ adverbs
▪ extremely poor
His parents were extremely poor.
▪ desperately poor (=so poor that it causes great suffering)
Half the population remains desperately poor.
▪ dirt poor American English informal (=extremely poor)
We were dirt poor back then.
■ adjectives
▪ the rural poor (=poor people who live in the countryside)
Difficult economic conditions have driven millions of the rural poor to cities.
▪ the urban poor (=poor people who live in towns and cities)
The condition of the urban poor could no longer be ignored.
▪ the working poor (=poor people who have jobs, rather than unemployed people)
These tax-cut proposals are targeted at the working poor.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ poor having very little money and not many possessions – used about people or places:
Many families were too poor to pay for education.
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poor countries
▪ hard up/broke ( also skint British English ) [not before noun] informal having very little money, especially for a short period of time. Skint is more informal than the other words:
I’m a bit hard up at the moment
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We were so broke we couldn’t afford to go out to the cinema.
▪ developing [only before noun] a developing country is poor and has very little industry:
The disease is found mainly in developing countries.
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the developing world
▪ deprived [usually before noun] much poorer than other people in a country, and not having the things that are necessary for a comfortable or happy life – used about people and areas:
The charity works with deprived children in the inner city.
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one of the most deprived areas of London
▪ disadvantaged especially written used about groups of people in society who have much less chance of being successful because they are poor:
An increase in the minimum wage would help the most disadvantaged Americans.
▪ needy having very little money, and so needing help – used about groups of people:
More help should be given to needy families.
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We offer scholarships for needy students.
▪ destitute especially written having no money or possessions and nowhere to live – used when someone is in a very bad situation:
Her family was left destitute after her father died.
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destitute refugees
▪ impoverished formal impoverished people and places are very poor:
out-of-work miners and their impoverished families
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The children come from impoverished neighbourhoods.
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one of the world’s most impoverished countries
▪ poverty-stricken written extremely poor:
poverty-stricken areas
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They were left poverty-stricken.
▪ penniless especially literary having no money:
She died penniless.
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a penniless student
■ COLLOCATIONS CHECK
▪ deprived area/children/homes/background
▪ disadvantaged groups/children/students/background
▪ needy children/students/families
▪ impoverished families/areas/countries
▪ poverty-stricken areas/countries/people