poor
adjective
uk/pɔːr/us/pʊr/pooradjective(NO MONEY)
A1
having littlemoneyand/or few possessions:
贫穷的，穷困的；拮据的Most of the world's poorestcountriesare inAfrica.世界上最穷的国家多数在非洲。
He came from a poorimmigrantfamily.他来自一个贫穷的移民家庭。
Synonym
indigentformal
Opposite
rich
not having much or enough money
- poorHer family was poor and didn't own a computer.
- pennilessAt the time, I was a penniless student.
- impoverishedBenefits should be targeted at the most impoverished families.
- disadvantagedThe scheme was set up to help disadvantaged children.
- deprivedDeprived areas will be hardest hit by the cuts.
be poor insomething
B2
to have very little of aparticularsubstanceorquality:
缺乏；在…方面贫乏Unfortunately, Iceland is poor innaturalresources.遗憾的是，冰岛自然资源贫乏。
- Thedemonstratorsseemedto be from acompletecross-sectionofsociety-maleandfemale,oldandyoung,richand poor.
- Because ofdebtrepayments, thedividebetweenrichand poorcountriesiscontinuingtogrow.
- Fairtrade, sayOxfam, is about giving poorpeoplepower.
- When hestartedhe was just a poorboyfrom theslums- now he's amultimillionaire.
- Wecertainlydon'tleadalifeofluxurybut we're not poor either.
Scarce, inadequate and not enough
- be at a premiumidiom
- be thin on the groundidiom
- dearth
- deficiency
- deficient
- gold dust
- lacking
- long onsomethingand short onsomethingidiom
- lousy
- meagre
- measly
- nearly
- scrubby
- shortage
- shortfall
- shortness
- shy
- skinny
- sparse
- thin
pooradjective(BAD)
B2
not good; being of a verylowquality,quantity, orstandard:
粗劣的，蹩脚的；不好的a poorharvest歉收
Last year'sexamresultswerefairlypoor.去年的考试成绩相当差。
I was always very pooratmathsatschool.我上学时数学一直很差。
Dad had been in poorhealthfor severalyears.爸爸几年来健康状况一直很差。
At last month'smeeting,attendancewas poor.上个月的会议出席率很低。
bad weather, conditions, situations, etc.
- badIf the weather is bad, we'll have to find something else to do.
- poorShe's 87 and in poor health.
- direThe predictions for the economy are dire.
- grimShe was quickly brought back to the grim reality of her life.
- awfulThe smell from the bins was awful.
of bad quality
- badThe food wasn’t as bad as I’d expected.
- poorTheir efforts produced extremely poor results.
- low/poor/bad qualityTheir sausages are made with low-quality meat.
- mediocreThe striker has been dropped after a mediocre performance.
- inferiorThe copies are of inferior quality.
- Thisnovelisavailableinlargeprintforreaderswith pooreyesight.
- Teachers shouldn't have to take all theblamefor poorexamresults.
- Thelandis so poor here that it cannotsupportanycrops.
- Thematchwasabandonedathalf-timebecause of the poorweatherconditions.
- He wasfiredfrom his $165 000jobfor poorperformance.
Not of good quality
- a miserable, poor, etc. excuse forsomethingidiom
- apology
- appallingly
- atrocious
- atrociously
- awfully
- awfulness
- badness
- downscale
- inadequacy
- inadequate
- inadequately
- janky
- tacky
- tawdry
- thinness
- third-class
- third-rate
- unappetizing
- wretched
pooradjective(DESERVING SYMPATHY)
A2[before noun]
deservingsympathy:
可怜的Thatcoldsoundsterrible, you poor thing!感冒似乎很严重，你这个可怜的家伙！
Look at thatdog- the poor thing only has threelegs.看那条狗——可怜的家伙只有3条腿。
- Heneglectsthat poordog- he nevertakeshim forwalksor gives him anyattention.
- IhearpooroldFrank'slosthisjob.
- The poor things werekeptinsmallcageswithoutroomtomove.
- The poorbirdcouldn'tflybecause it had abrokenwing.
- You poor thing - you're allwet.
Sympathy & compassion
- aw
- bad/hard/tough luck!idiom
- better luck next timeidiom
- bleeding heart
- cheese
- hard/tough cheese!idiom
- heart-wrenching
- heart-wrenchingly
- pitiably
- pitiful
- pitifully
- pitifulness
- pity
- relate
- sensitivity
- sympathetic
- sympathize
- sympathy
- yourheart achesidiom
- yourheart goes out tosomeoneidiom
Idioms
be as poor as a church mouse
come/be a poor second, third, etc.
poor man's...
poor relation
poor
noun[plural]
uk/pɔːr/us/pʊr/the poor
C1
poorpeopleconsideredtogether as agroup:
穷人housingfor the poor为穷人提供住房
Opposite
therich