poor

Universal Words adjective (poorer, poorest) having little money 1 having very little money; not having enough money for basic needs: They were too poor to buy shoes for the kids. * We aim to help the poorest families. * It's among the poorer countries of the world. OPPRICH 2 (the poor) noun [pl.] people who have very little money: They provided food and shelter for the poor. OPPRICH unfortunate 3 [onlybeforenoun] (especially spoken) deserving pity and sympathy: Have you heard about poor old Harry? His wife's left him. * It's hungry-the poor little thing. * 'I have stacks of homework to do.' 'Oh, you poor thing.' not good 4 not good; of a quality that is low or lower than expected: the party's poor performance in the election * to be in poor health / condition * It was raining heavily and visibility was poor. * poor food / light / soil * to have a poor opinion of sb (= to not think well of sb) 5 (of a person) not good or skilled at sth: a poor swimmer * a poor judge of character * She's a good teacher but a poor manager. * a poor sailor (= sb who easily gets sick at sea) having little of sth 6 ~ in sth having very small amounts of sth: a country poor in natural resources * soil poor in nutrients OPPRICH IDIOMS be / come a poor second, third, etc. (especially BrE) to finish a long way behind the winner in a race, competition, etc. the poor man's sb / sth a person or thing that is similar to but of a lower quality than a particular famous person or thing: Sparkling white wine is the poor man's champagne. moreatACCOUNTn.