Meaning

6 senses
  1. With no or few possessions or money, particularly in relation to contemporaries who do have them.

    We were so poor that we couldn't afford shoes.

    arm

    бе́дныйbédnyj, ни́щийníščij

    бі́днийbídnyj

    having little money or few possessions

  2. Of low quality.

    That was a poor performance.

    armselig

    плохо́йploxój, сла́быйslábyj, убо́гийubógij

    пога́нийpohányj

    lacking in quality or substances

  3. (attributive)Worthy of pity.

    Oh, you poor thing, you're drenched!

    This poor little puppy got a nasty snake bite.

    arm

    бе́дныйbédnyj, жа́лкийžálkij, несча́стныйnesčástnyj

    бі́днийbídnyj, жалюгі́днийžaljuhídnyj

    deserving or inciting pity

  4. Deficient in a specified way.

    Cow's milk is poor in iron.

  5. Inadequate, insufficient.

    I received a poor reward for all my hard work.

    Business is poor right now.

    of insufficient quantity to meet a need

  6. Free from self-assertion; not proud or arrogant; meek.

Examples

1821 sentences
  1. My wife is a poor driver.

    Моя дружина погано водить машину. — deniko

    ruМоя жена плохо водит машину. — al_ex_an_der

    deMeine Frau ist eine schlechte Autofahrerin. — Pfirsichbaeumchen

  2. He remained poor all his life.

    Він був бідним усе життя. — aandrusiak

    deEr blieb sein Leben lang arm. — kriskelvin

  3. She is a very poor driver.

    Вона дуже поганий водій. — ChickenKiev

    ruОна очень плохой водитель. — shanghainese

    deSie ist eine sehr schlechte Autofahrerin. — wolfgangth

  4. I was poor three years ago.

    Три роки тому я був бідний. — deniko

    ruТри года тому назад я был беден. — marafon

  5. Tom said that Mary was poor.

    Том сказав, що Мері бідна. — deniko

    ruТом сказал, что Мэри бедная. — marafon

Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 3
with few or no possessions or money:
of low quality:
used to express pity:
Русский
By meaning 3
with few or no possessions or money:
of low quality:
used to express pity:
Deutsch
By meaning 2
with few or no possessions or money:
of low quality:

Origin

Inherited from Middle English povre, povere, from Old French and Anglo-Norman povre, poure

Inherited from Middle English povre, povere, from Old French and Anglo-Norman povre, poure, from Latin pauper, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, small”). Doublet of pauper.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

poorer, poorest
Comparativepoorer Lesson
Superlativepoorest Lesson

regular

Synonyms

175 synonyms

Antonyms

5 antonyms

Word family

56 related words

Collocations

12 patterns
  • as poor as
  • was very poor
  • being being poor
  • poor health
  • rich or poor
  • help the poor
  • is poor but
  • isn't as poor
  • in poor health
  • too poor to
  • the poor girl
  • poor but

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
poor — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto