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[ adjective ] deserving or inciting pity
Examples "a hapless victim" "miserable victims of war" "piteous appeals for help" "pitiable homeless children" "a pitiful fate" "couldn't rescue the poor fellow" "his poor distorted limbs" "a wretched life" Used in print (Francis Pollini, Night....)Poor ol Slater . (Howard Fast, April Morning....)Cousin_Joshua_Dover decided to remain with the Reverend and poor Isaac_Pitt until life passed_away - and he was hurt so badly he did not seem for long in this world . (Ann Hebson, The Lattimer Legend....)Her mother wrote Kate of her grief at the death of Kate 's baby and at Jonathan 's decision to go_with the South `` And , dear Kate '' , she wrote , `` poor Dr._Breckenridge 's son Robert is now organizing a militia company to go South , to his good father 's sorrow . (Stephen Longstreet, Eagles Where I Walk....)And what of that poor tarred_and_feathered wretch he had seen on the road driving down from Schuyler 's ? (John Dos Passos, Midcentury....)Instead of wanting_to sock the poor bastard I found myself having a fellow-feeling for him . Related terms |
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[ adjective ] moderate to inferior in quality
Synonyms Examples "they improved the quality from mediocre to above average" "he would make a poor spy" Used in print (Musical America, LXXXI:5...)Meager and shabby by-products linger to haunt our memories of a once mighty protagonist ; a maladroit reharmonization of our National_Anthem ( The Star-Spangled_Banner ) ; a poor attempt to write an idiomatic jazz concerto ; a circus polka for elephants ; his hopes that the tunes from his old music might be used for popular American commercial songs ! (Orlin J. Scoville, Part-Time Farming...)Soil type , drainage , or degree of slope can make the difference between good crops and poor ones . (Bell I. Wiley, "Home Letters of Johnny Reb and Billy...)In the South , after the first year of the war , paper and ink were very poor . (John F. Hayward, "Mimesis and Symbol in the Arts"...)For Plato , `` imitation '' is twice removed from reality , being a poor copy of physical appearance , which in itself is a poor copy of ideal essence . For Plato , `` imitation '' is twice removed from reality , being a poor copy of physical appearance , which in itself is a poor copy of ideal essence . Related terms |
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[ adjective ] having little money or few possessions
Examples "deplored the gap between rich and poor countries" "the proverbial poor artist living in a garret" Used in print (Jack Kaplan, "The Health Machine Menace: Therapy by...)The victims of the quacks are frequently poor people , like Mr._A. , who scrape_up their life savings to offer as a sacrifice to Doctor_Fraud 's avarice . (Edward P. Lawton, "Northern Liberals and Southern...)Poor where they had once been rich , humbled where they had been arrogant , having no_longer any hope of sharing_in the leadership of the nation , the rebels who would not surrender in spirit drew comfort from the sympathy they felt extended to them by the mother_country . (J. H. Hexter, "Thomas More: On the Margins...)Secondly , to find a learned diversion and a pleasing joke in More 's account of the stupid brutalities of early sixteenth century wars , of the anguish of the poor and dispossessed , of the insolence and cruelty of the rich and powerful requires a callousness toward suffering and sin that would be surprising in a moral imbecile and most surprising in More himself . When we give the necessities of life to the poor , we restore to them what is already theirs . (Tristram Coffin, Not to the Swift....)He had not because he was both poor and ambitious . Related terms rich broke hard_up moneyless unprovided_for destitute underprivileged financial_condition |
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[ adjective ] low in degree
Examples "expectations were poor" Used in print (James Boylan, "Mutinity"...)Poor winds and fog locked her up in a harbor the crew called `` Lousie_Bay '' . (Committee for Economic Development, Distressed...)A training_program in a depressed area may have few enrollees unless there is some apparent prospect for better employment opportunities afterwards , and the prospect may be poor if the training is aimed solely at jobs in the local community . Related terms |
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[ noun ] Last name, frequency rank in the U.S. is 8797
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[ adjective ] not sufficient to meet a need
Synonyms Examples "an inadequate income" "a poor salary" "money is short" "on short rations" "food is in short supply" "short on experience" Related terms |
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[ adjective ] badly supplied with desirable qualities or substances
Examples "a poor land" "the area was poor in timber and coal" "food poor in nutritive value" Related terms |
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[ adjective ] yielding little by great labor
Synonyms Examples "a hardscrabble farm" "poor soil" Related terms |
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