poor

poor [ pur ] adjective ***

▸ 1 lacking money

▸ 2 of low quality

▸ 3 not good enough

▸ 4 not skillful

▸ 5 lacking something important

▸ 6 less than expected

▸ 7 feeling sorry for someone

▸ + PHRASES

1. ) having little money and few possessions:

a poor family/area/country

We were very poor and could barely afford the necessities of life.

a ) the poor people who have little money and few possessions:

the gap between the rich and the poor

2. ) of low quality: BAD:

The rebels' defenses were poor and they were quickly overcome.

poor light/soil

poor health/eyesight/hearing

a ) used for saying that something is not as good as it should be:

poor working/housing/sanitary conditions

3. ) not good enough:

a poor economic record

Her poor attempts at humor only made the situation worse.

4. ) FORMAL not skillful:

I was always put with the poorest students in the class.

─ opposite GOOD

5. ) not having enough of something important:

a country poor in natural resources

6. ) less than expected or needed:

a poor crop of tomatoes

Wages around here are very poor.

Attendance at our meetings this year has been relatively poor.

7. ) MAINLY SPOKEN used for showing that you feel sorry for someone:

poor (little) boy/child/girl/kid/mite/soul etc.: The poor child had lost both his parents.

poor old: Poor old Anthony was left to look after the baby.

a poor loser

someone who gets angry when they lose

a poor man's

1. ) used about something that is a less expensive type of a similar but more impressive thing:

This car is advertised as the poor man's Rolls Royce.

2. ) used about someone who is less successful, popular, etc. when compared with another person:

He's a kind of poor man's James Bond.

a poor second

a long way behind the winner in a race, competition etc.:

My horse came in a poor second.

poor relation

a person, organization, or country that is considered to be less successful or important than another:

Our department has always been treated as a poor relation within the company as a whole.