poor

A1 Topic:Money & Finance

Also spelled po

US /pʊɚ/ UK /pɔː/ See IPA manual

Freq #583

Meanings

1

adj
Having little money or few possessions.

They were so poor that they couldn't afford shoes.
2

adj
Of low quality; not good enough.

That was a poor performance.
3

adj
Deserving sympathy or pity.

Oh, you poor thing, you're soaked!
4

noun
People who have little money, considered as a group.

The new law aims to help the poor.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · having little money or few... broke destitutebadly off

2 adj · of low quality; not good... bad cheap

3 adj · deserving sympathy or pity. pitiful pitiable

4 noun · people who have little... poor people

Word family

Forms poorerpoorestpoorishpoorness

Derived forms antipoorcash-poordirt-pooreuropoorfuel-poorimpoorincome-pooriron-poorland-poormetal-poornonpooroxygen-poor

Related forms fewpaucalpauci-paucity pauper

Appears in

Phrases (5)

See all

poor health
a state of being unwell or suffering from persistent illness

Adjective + noun
poor excuse
a weak, unconvincing, or inadequate reason

Adjective + noun
poor hearing
a reduced or impaired ability to perceive sounds

Adjective + noun
poor service
service of low quality that fails to meet basic expectations

Adjective + noun
undeserving poor
poor people judged by others to be unworthy of assistance

Adjective + noun

Proverbs (7)

See all

Simplified etymology

Poor entered English in the Middle English period and derives ultimately from Latin pauper, “poor.” Pauper and poverty come from the same Latin base.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English povre, povere, from Old French (and Anglo-Norman) povre, poure, from Latin pauper, from Old Latin *pavo-pars (literally “getting little”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, small”). Doublet of pauper. Displaced native arm, wantsome, Middle English unlede (“poor”) (from Old English unlǣde), Middle English unweli, unwely (“poor, unwealthy”) (from Old English un- + weliġ (“well-to-do, prosperous, rich”)).

*peh₂w- Proto-Indo-European povre Middle English pauper Latin *pavo-pars itc-ola

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Money & Finance

External links

# poor

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** adj, noun
**IPA (US):** /pʊɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /pɔː/
**Frequency rank:** 583

## Meanings
1. Having little money or few possessions.
2. Of low quality; not good enough.
3. Deserving sympathy or pity.
4. People who have little money, considered as a group.

## Examples
- They were so poor that they couldn't afford shoes.
- That was a poor performance.
- Oh, you poor thing, you're soaked!
- The new law aims to help the poor.

## Derived Forms
- antipoor
- cash-poor
- dirt-poor
- europoor
- fuel-poor
- impoor
- income-poor
- iron-poor
- land-poor
- metal-poor
- nonpoor
- oxygen-poor

## Related Forms
- few
- paucal
- pauci-
- paucity
- pauper

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *peh₂w-
- Root: povre
- Root: pauper
- Root: *pavo-pars

## Etymology
Inherited from Middle English povre, povere, from Old French (and Anglo-Norman) povre, poure, from Latin pauper, from Old Latin *pavo-pars (literally “getting little”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, small”). Doublet of pauper. Displaced native arm, wantsome, Middle English unlede (“poor”) (from Old English unlǣde), Middle English unweli, unwely (“poor, unwealthy”) (from Old English un- + weliġ (“well-to-do, prosperous, rich”)).

## AI Etymology
Poor is inherited from Middle English povre, povere, from Old French (and Anglo-Norman) povre, poure, from Latin pauper, from Old Latin *pavo-pars (literally “getting little”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, small”). Doublet of pauper. Displaced native arm, wantsome, Middle English unlede (“poor”) (from Old English unlǣde), Middle English unweli, unwely (“poor, unwealthy”) (from Old English un- + weliġ (“well-to-do, prosperous, rich”)). In present-day English it covers having little money or few possessions, of low quality; not good enough, and deserving sympathy or pity. The wider family includes derived forms such as antipoor, cash-poor, dirt-poor, europoor, fuel-poor and related forms such as few, paucal, pauci-, paucity.

## Topics
- Money & Finance

markdown