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poor - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'poor' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Poor [ n.]
- A small European codfish (Gadus minutus); -- called also power cod.
2 . Poor [ superl.]
- Destitute of property; wanting in material riches or goods; needy; indigent.
- So completely destitute of property as to be entitled to maintenance from the public.
- Destitute of such qualities as are desirable, or might naturally be expected
- Wanting in fat, plumpness, or fleshiness; lean; emaciated; meager; as, a poor horse, ox, dog, etc.
- Wanting in strength or vigor; feeble; dejected; as, poor health; poor spirits.
- Of little value or worth; not good; inferior; shabby; mean; as, poor clothes; poor lodgings.
- Destitute of fertility; exhausted; barren; sterile; -- said of land; as, poor soil.
- Destitute of beauty, fitness, or merit; as, a poor discourse; a poor picture.
- Without prosperous conditions or good results; unfavorable; unfortunate; unconformable; as, a poor business; the sick man had a poor night.
- Inadequate; insufficient; insignificant; as, a poor excuse.
- Worthy of pity or sympathy; -- used also sometimes as a term of endearment, or as an expression of modesty, and sometimes as a word of contempt.
- Free from self-assertion; not proud or arrogant; meek.

Meaning of 'poor' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . poor [ n]
Meaning (1):
- people without possessions or wealth (considered as a group)
Example in sentence:
  • the urban poor need assistance
2 . poor [ a]
Meaning (2):
- lacking in quality or substances
Example in sentence:
  • a poor land;
  • food poor in nutritive value;
  • the area was poor in timber and coal;
  • the food in the cafeteria was of poor quality
Meaning (3):
- having little money or few possessions
Example in sentence:
  • deplored the gap between rich and poor countries;
  • the proverbial poor artist living in a garret
Meaning (4):
- characterized by or indicating poverty
Example in sentence:
  • the country had a poor economy;
  • they lived in the poor section of town
5 . poor [ s]
Meaning (5):
- deserving or inciting pity
Example in sentence:
  • a hapless victim;
  • a pitiful fate;
  • a wretched life;
  • his poor distorted limbs;
  • miserable victims of war;
  • Oh, you poor thing;
  • piteous appeals for help;
  • pitiable homeless children;
  • the shabby room struck her as extraordinarily pathetic
Meaning (6):
- of insufficient quantity to meet a need
Example in sentence:
  • a poor salary;
  • an inadequate income;
  • food is in short supply;
  • money is short;
  • on short rations;
  • short on experience;
  • the jejune diets of the very poor

Nearby Words:

pood poodle pooh pooh-pooh pookoo pool pooled pooler pooling poon

See 'poor' also in:

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