Inflected forms: poor·er, poor·est 1. Having little or no wealth and few or no possessions. 2. Lacking in a specified resource or quality: an area poor in timber and coal; a diet poor in calcium.3. Not adequate in quality; inferior: a poor performance.4a. Lacking in value; insufficient: poor wages.b. Lacking in quantity: poor attendance.5. Lacking fertility: poor soil.6. Undernourished; lean. 7. Humble: a poor spirit.8. Eliciting or deserving pity; pitiable: couldn't rescue the poor fellow.
NOUN:
(used with a pl. verb) People with little or no wealth and possessions considered as a group: The urban poor are in need of homes.
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English poure, from Old French povre, from Latin pauper. See pau-1 in Appendix I.
OTHER FORMS:
poorness —NOUN
SYNONYMS:
poor, indigent, needy, impecunious, penniless, impoverished, poverty-stricken, destitute These adjectives mean lacking the money or the means for an adequate or comfortable life. Poor is the most general: “Resolve not to be poor: whatever you have, spend less. Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness” (Samuel Johnson). Indigent and needy refer to one in need or want: indigent people living on the street; distributed food to needy families.Impecunious and penniless mean having little or no money: “Certainly an impecunious Subaltern was not a catch” (Rudyard Kipling). He made poor investments which left him penniless. One who is impoverished has been reduced to poverty: an impoverished, third-world country.Poverty-stricken means suffering from poverty and miserably poor: refugees living in poverty-stricken camps.Destitute means lacking any means of subsistence: tenants left destitute by the fire.
USAGE NOTE:
In informal speech poor is sometimes used as an adverb, as in They never played poorer. In formal usage more poorly would be required in this example.
p
r
ness —NOUN
