# poor

Pronunciation: US/UK say "PUUR" /pʊɹ/; AUS say "PAW" /poː/

## Adjective

1. Having little or no money or property, especially compared with others in the same society who have more.
   - Simple: Having little money and few things, especially compared with the people around you.
   - _After losing his job, he was so poor that he could barely afford groceries._
   - _Poor families in the region often go without reliable electricity._
2. Not good enough in quality, amount, or degree; falling short of an acceptable standard.
   - Simple: Not good or not enough, worse or smaller than it should be.
   - _The restaurant got poor reviews for its slow, careless service._
   - _Workers complained about the poor materials used in the building._
3. Deserving of pity, sympathy, or compassion.
   - Simple: Deserving of pity, making you feel sad or sorry for someone.
   - _The poor man had lost everything he owned in the fire._
   - _She gave the poor stray a warm place to sleep for the night._
5. Lacking or deficient in a specified quality or element.
   - Simple: Not having enough of a certain thing that is named.
   - _The ore proved poor in copper and was not worth mining._
   - _Foods poor in fiber can contribute to digestive problems._
7. In the phrase poor in spirit: humble and unassuming, free from pride or arrogance; meek.
   - Simple: In the phrase poor in spirit, humble and gentle, not proud or boastful.
   - _The old abbot was poor in spirit and never sought praise for his good works._
   - _She remained poor in spirit even after rising to high office._

## Noun

4. The members of a society who have little money or property, taken collectively as a class.
   - Simple: People who have little money, thought of together as a group in society.
   - _Rising food prices hit the poor hardest of all._
   - _The new policy aimed to lift the poor out of long-term debt._
6. A person who has little or no money or few possessions. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A person who has very little money or few things.
   - _She posted a photo of her instant noodles with the caption "dinner for a poor."_
   - _The columnist blamed the election result on the poors, and readers could tell he was being sarcastic._

## Verb

8. To reduce someone to poverty; to strip a person or group of money or resources. *(rare)*
   - Simple: To make someone poor by taking away their money.
9. To become poor; to sink gradually into poverty. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To become poor and lose your money over time.
10. To describe or label someone as poor. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To say that someone is poor, or to call them poor.

## Noun

11. A small marine fish of the cod family, Trisopterus minutus, also known as the poor cod. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A small sea fish that belongs to the cod family.

## Origin

This word came into Middle English as povre from Old French (and Anglo-Norman) povre, poure, which came from Latin pauper. That Latin word goes back to a compound probably meaning 'providing little', built on a Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'few, small'. It is a doublet of pauper.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/poor (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).