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poor
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- pronunciation:
- por
- parts of speech:
- adjective, noun
- features:
- Word Combinations (adjective), Homophone Note, Word Builder, Word Explorer
| part of speech: |
adjective |
| inflections: |
poorer, poorest |
| definition 1: |
without money, possessions, or other means of livelihood.
His family was poor and the children had barely enough to eat.- synonyms:
- broke, destitute, impecunious, impoverished, indigent, penniless, penurious, poverty-stricken
- antonyms:
- affluent, moneyed, opulent, prosperous, rich, wealthy, well-fixed, well-heeled
- similar words:
- bankrupt, insolvent, needy, threadbare
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| definition 2: |
indicating such a condition.
They lived in a poor shack by the railroad tracks.- synonyms:
- exiguous, meager, miserable, sorry
- antonyms:
- luxurious, moneyed
- similar words:
- barren, desolate, lean, paltry, threadbare, wretched
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| definition 3: |
lacking; deficient.
The soil was poor for farming.He claims this is a spiritually poor nation.- synonyms:
- barren, deficient, inadequate, insufficient, wanting
- antonyms:
- affluent, deadly, good, rich
- similar words:
- cull, feeble, inferior, meager, mean
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| definition 4: |
below standard.
She was a poor student and barely finished high school.The carpenter did a very poor job on the cabinets.That restaurant has very poor food in my opinion.- antonyms:
- excellent, fine, first-class, good, grand, great, mean, respectable, sterling, superb, superior, superlative
- similar words:
- awful, base, cull, hopeless, incapable, ineffective, inferior, mean, of a sort, of sorts, pathetic, second-class, second-rate, shabby, sorry, sour, vile, weak, wretched
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| definition 5: |
below average; low.
The abandoned cub has a poor chance of survival.The concert got a poor turnout.- antonyms:
- good
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| definition 6: |
unfortunate or unlucky (used to express sympathy).
That poor woman! First her husband died. and now her son has been diagnosed with cancer.- synonyms:
- hapless, luckless, miserable, piteous, pitiable, pitiful, sorry, unfortunate, unlucky, wretched
- antonyms:
- fortunate, lucky
- similar words:
- forlorn, ill-fated, ill-starred, pathetic, star-crossed
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| related words: |
abject, bad, bum, cheap, coarse, defective, destitute, flimsy, hapless, ignoble, lousy, marginal, pitiful, puny, short, stingy, tight, wan, worthless |
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| part of speech: |
noun |
| definition: |
(used with a pl. verb) poor people considered as a group (usu. prec. by "the").
To spite his greedy relatives upon his death, he left his money to the poor.- synonyms:
- homeless, indigent, unfortunate
- antonyms:
- rich
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The words poor, pore, and pour sound alike but have different meanings.
Word Builder: poor +
- poorly:
in a poor way; not well.
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