/pɔ:(r); [US] pʊər; pur/
adj (-er, -est)
1 having very little money with which to buy one's basic needs 贫穷的; 贫困的
*She was too poor to buy clothes for her children. 她穷得没钱给孩子买衣服.
* He came from a poor family. 他出身于穷苦人家.
* the poorer countries of the world 世界上的贫穷国家.
2 [pred 作表语] ~ in sth having sth only in very small quantities; deficient in sth 缺乏某物; 某方面不足
*a country poor in minerals 缺乏矿产的国家
* soil poor in nutrients 缺少养分的土壤.
3 (a) not good; inadequate, esp in contrast with what is usual or expected 不好的, 不充分的, 不足的（尤与一般的或所期望的情况相比）
*We had a poor crop of raspberries this year. 今年我们的悬钩子歉收.
* They received a poor return on their investment. 他们的投资获利甚微.
* Attendance at the concert was very poor. 那次音乐会的上座率极低.
* the party's poor performance in the election 该党在选举中的拙劣表现.
(b) of low quality; deficient 劣质的; 不足的
*poor food, light, soil 劣质食品、微弱的光线、贫瘠的土壤
* a poor diet 粗劣的日常饮食
* be in poor health 健康欠佳
* Her remarks were in very poor taste. 她的话真没意思.
(c) inferior; insignificant 差的; 无关紧要的
*Watching the event on television was a poor substitute for actually being there. 从电视上观看那个比赛比现场观看可差远了.
* Getting third prize was poor consolation for all their hard work. 他们那么努力才获得三等奖, 真有点说不过去.
* She came a poor second, ie a long way behind the winner. 她得了个第二名, 成绩很差（远远落在第一名的後面）.
(d) (of a person) not good or skilled at sth （指人）在某方面不好的, 对某事物不熟练的
*a poor judge of character 对品性判断不准
* a poor loser, ie one who shows anger at losing in games or sport 输不起的人（输了就生气的人）
* a poor sailor, ie sb who gets sea-sick easily 容易晕船的人.
4 (esp infml 尤作口语) deserving pity or sympathy; unfortunate 值得怜悯或同情的; 可怜的; 不幸的
*The poor little puppy had been abandoned. 那可怜的小狗被人遗弃了.
* Poor chap, his wife has just died. 不幸的小伙子啊, 他刚刚死了妻子.
* `I've been feeling ill for two weeks.' `Poor you!' ｀两周以来我身体一直不好.＇｀真叫人同情!＇
5 (a) (derog 贬) deserving contempt 可鄙的
*What a poor creature he is! 他真卑鄙!
* his poor attempts to be witty 他那卑劣的取巧行为.
(b) (esp joc or ironic 尤作戏谑语或反语) humble 谦恭的
*in my poor opinion 依本人拙见.
6 (idm 习语) the poor man's sb/sth person or thing that is an inferior or a cheaper alternative to a well-known person, institution, food, etc 降而求其次的人或事物
*Sparkling white wine is the poor man's champagne. 白葡萄汽酒算是廉价的香槟. a poor relation person or thing with less power, prestige or respect than others of the same type 较同类逊色的人或事物
*Some people may regard radio as the poor relation of broadcasting. 有些人可能认为无线电广播在广播事业中稍逊一筹.

adj comparativepoorersuperlativepoorest

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1【no money】
2【not good】
3【sympathy】
4【not good at something】
5【health】
6 poor in something
7 a poor second/third etc
8 the poor man's somebody
9 the poor man's something
10 poor relation

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[Date: 1100-1200; Language: Old French;Origin: povre, from Latin pauper]
【NO MONEY】
a) having very little money and not many possessions
≠ rich
　Her family were so poor they couldn't afford to buy her new clothes.
　an area where poor people lived
　one of the poorest countries in the world
　a poor part of Chicago (=where a lot of poor people live)
　My grandparents grew up dirt poor (=very poor) .
desperately/extremely poor
　Many of the families are desperately poor.
b) the poor [plural]
people who are poor
　It's the government's responsibility to help the poor.
the rural/urban/working poor
　tax relief for the working poor
【NOT GOOD】
not as good as it could be or should be
　The soil in this area is very poor.
　poor rates of pay
　He blames himself for the team's poor performance .
of poor quality
(=not made well or not made of good materials)
　The jacket was of very poor quality.
poor hearing/eyesight/memory
　Her hearing is poor, so speak fairly loudly.
make/do a poor job of doing sth
　The builders did a really poor job of fixing our roof.
【SYMPATHY】 [only before noun]
spoken used to show sympathy for someone because they are so unlucky, unhappy etc
　Poor kid, he's had a rough day.
　You poor thing , you've had a hard time of it, haven't you?
　Poor old Ted was sick for weeks.
【NOT GOOD AT SOMETHING】
not good at doing something
　a poor public speaker
poor at
　He's poor at sports.
【HEALTH】
someone whose health is poor is ill or weak for a long period of time
　My parents are both in rather poor health .
poor in sth
lacking something that is needed
　The country is poor in natural resources.
a poor second/third etc
the act of finishing a race, competition etc a long way behind the person ahead of you
　McLean won easily, and Benson was a poor second.
come (in) a poor second/third etcBrE
　The Socialists came a poor second with 26.5% of the vote.
the poor man's sb
used to say that someone is like a very famous performer, writer etc but is not as good as they are
　He was the poor man's Elvis Presley.
the poor man's sth
used to say that something can be used for the same purpose as something else, and is much cheaper
　Herring is the poor man's salmon.
poor relation
BrE someone or something that is not treated as well as other members of a group or is much less successful than they are
poor relation of
　Theatre musicians tend to be the poor relations of the musical profession.
→be in bad/poor tasteattaste¹ (6), poorly

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WORD FOCUS: words meaning poor
be hard up/be brokealsobe skint(BrE informal) to have very little money at the present time and be unable to buy the things that you want
destitute having no money and nowhere to live, especially because something terrible has happened
poverty-stricken very poor

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