poor (adj.)

  1. having little money or few possessions; deplored the gap between rich and poor countries; the proverbial poor artist living in a garret'

  2. characterized by or indicating poverty; the country had a poor economy; they lived in the poor section of town'

  3. lacking in specific resources, qualities or substances; a poor land; the area was poor in timber and coal; food poor in nutritive value'

    poor (n.)

  1. people without possessions or wealth (considered as a group); the urban poor need assistance

    [ Syn: poor people , poor people ]

    poor (adj.)

  1. deserving or inciting pity; a hapless victim; miserable victims of war; the shabby room struck her as extraordinarily pathetic- Galsworthy; piteous appeals for help; pitiable homeless children; a pitiful fate; Oh, you poor thing; his poor distorted limbs; a wretched life

    [ Syn: hapless , miserable , misfortunate , pathetic , piteous , pitiable , pitiful , wretched ]

  2. not sufficient to meet a need; an inadequate income; a poor salary; money is short; on short rations; food is in short supply; short on experience

    [ Syn: inadequate , short ]

  3. unsatisfactory; a poor light for reading; poor morale; expectations were poor'

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2011 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.