poor

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

adj. indigent (see poverty); inferior, faulty, unsatisfactory, imperfect, defective; humble; weak, flimsy. See insufficiency, imperfection, disease.Ant., rich, wealthy.

II

(Roget's IV) modif.

1. [Lacking worldly goods]

Syn. indigent, impoverished, impecunious, destitute, needy, necessitous, penniless, poverty-stricken, underprivileged, disadvantaged, deprived, starved, starving, straitened, penurious, pinched, distressed, in reduced circumstances, beggared, famine-stricken, underdeveloped, empty-handed, insolvent, beggarly, ill-provided, ill-furnished, in want, in penury, suffering privation, in need, feeling the pinch, unable to make ends meet, poor as a church mouse*, broke*, hard up*, strapped for money*, down and out*, out at the elbows*; see also insolvent , ruined 4 , wanting 1 .

Ant. wealthy*, well-to-do, affluent.

2. [Lacking excellences]

Syn. pitiful, paltry, contemptible, miserable, pitiable, dwarfed, insignificant, diminutive, ordinary, common, mediocre, trashy, shoddy, worthless, sorry, base, mean, coarse, vulgar, inferior, imperfect, smaller, lesser, below par, subnormal, under average, second-rate, reduced, defective, deficient, lower, subordinate, minor, secondary, humble, second-hand, pedestrian, beggarly, homely, homespun, fourth-rate, tawdry, petty, unimportant, bad, cheap, flimsy, threadbare, badly made, less than good, unwholesome, lacking in quality, dowdy, undergrade, second-class, shabby, shoddy, valueless, easy, gaudy, mass-produced, gimcrack, squalid, catchpenny, trivial, sleazy, trifling, unsuccessful, second-best, tasteless, insipid, barbarous, vile, disgusting, despicable, rustic, crude, outlandish, odd, rock-bottom, garish, flashy, showy, inelegant, loud, unsightly, inartistic, affected, ramshackle, pretentious, tumble-down, glaring, artificial, flaunting, newfangled, out-of-date, old-fashioned, crummy*, junky*, two-bit*, schlock*, third-rate*, kitschy*, raunchy*, corny*, cheesy*; see also faulty , inadequate 1 , unsatisfactory .

3. [Inadequate]

Syn. meager, scanty, sparse; see inadequate 1 , scanty , wanting 1 .

4. [Lacking vigor or health]

Syn. feeble, puny, infirm, indisposed; see sick , weak 1 .

5. [Lacking fertility]

Syn. infertile, unproductive, barren; see sterile 1 , 2 , worthless 1 .

6. [Worthy of pity]

Syn. unfortunate, pitiable, hapless, wretched; see unfortunate 2 .

Syn.- poor is the simple, direct term for one who lacks the resources for reasonably comfortable living; impoverished ) is applied to one who having once had plenty is now reduced to poverty [ an impoverished aristocrat ] ; destitute implies such Great poverty that even the means for subsistence, such as food and shelter, are lacking [ left destitute by the war ] ; impecunious applies to one who habitually lacks money and often suggests that this results from personal practices [ an impecunious gambler ] ; indigent implies such relative poverty as results in a lack of comforts or luxuries and the endurance of hardships [ books for indigent children ] n.

Syn. needy, forgotten man, the unemployed, underdogs, the underprivileged, beggars, the impoverished masses, second-class citizen, have-nots*; see also pauper , people 3 .

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) a.

1. destitute poverty-stricken, impoverished, indigent, *strapped, *broke, bankrupt, *down and out, *hard up, needy, homeless.

2. inadequate lacking, deficient, unsatisfactory, subpar, second-rate, inferior, insufficient, sorry, low grade, substandard, cheap, pitiable, wanting, shoddy, shabby.

3. unfortunate pitiful, pitiable, pathetic, hapless, miserable, unlucky, wretched.

ANT.: 1. rich, wealthy, well-off. 2. superior, first-rate, superb. 3. lucky, fortunate, blessed

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) adjective 1. Having little or no money or wealth: beggarly, destitute, down-and-out, impecunious, impoverished, indigent, necessitous, needy, penniless, penurious, poverty-stricken. Informal: broke, strapped. Idioms: hard up, on one's uppers. See RICH. 2. Below a standard of quality: bad, bum1, unsatisfactory. Idioms: below par, not up to scratch (or snuff). See GOOD. 3. Of decidedly inferior quality: base2, cheap, lousy, miserable, paltry, rotten, shoddy, sleazy, trashy. Informal: cheesy. Slang: crummy, schlocky. See GOOD. 4. Conspicuously deficient in quantity, fullness, or extent: exiguous, meager, puny, scant, scanty, skimpy, spare, sparse, stingy, thin. Slang: measly. See BIG, EXCESS. 5. Arousing or deserving pity: pathetic, piteous, pitiable, pitiful, rueful, ruth-ful. See PITY.