Poor Meaning and Definition from WordNet (r) 2.0

poor adj
1. moderate to inferior in quality; "they improved the quality from mediocre to above average"; "he would make a poor spy" [syn: mediocre, second-rate]
2. 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]
3. having little money or few possessions; "deplored the gap between rich and poor countries"; "the proverbial poor artist living in a garret" [ant: rich]
4. characterized by or indicating lack of money; "the country had a poor economy" [ant: rich]
5. low in degree; "expectations were poor"
6. badly supplied with desirable qualities or substances; "a poor land"; "the area was poor in timber and coal"; "food poor in nutritive value" [ant: rich]
7. 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]
8. unsatisfactory; "a poor light for reading"; "poor morale"
9. yielding little by great labor; "a hardscrabble farm"; "poor soil" [syn: hardscrabble]

Poor Meaning and Definition from Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Poor \Poor\, a. [Compar. Poorer (?; 254); superl. Poorest.] [OE. poure or povre, OF. povre, F. pauvre, L. pauper; the first syllable of which is probably akin to paucus few (see Paucity, Few), and the second to parare to prepare,

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* It is commonly observed that a sudden wealth, like a prize drawn in a lottery or a large bequest to a poor family, does not permanently enrich. They have served no apprenticeship to wealth, and with the rapid wealth come rapid claims which they do not know how to deny, and the treasure is quickly dissipated. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

* It is true that wealth won't make a man virtuous, but I notice there ain't anybody who wants to be poor just for the purpose of being good. - Josh Billings

* I met in the street a very poor young man who was in love. His hat was old, his coat worn, his cloak was out at the elbows, the water passed through his shoes, - and the stars through his soul. - Victor Hugo


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