poor S1 W1 / pɔ $ pʊr / 形容词 ( comparative poorer , superlative poorest )
1 no money
a) having very little money and not many possessions 反义词 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 [复数形式] 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
2 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 something
The builders did a really poor job of fixing our roof.
3 sympathy [仅用于名词前] 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.
4 not good at something not good at doing something :
a poor public speaker
poor at
He’s poor at sports.
5 health someone whose health is poor is ill or weak for a long period of time :
My parents are both in rather poor health .
6 poor in something lacking something that is needed :
The country is poor in natural resources.
7 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 etc British English :
The Socialists came a poor second with 26.5% of the vote.
8 the poor man’s somebody 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.
9 the poor man’s something 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.
10 poor relation British English 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 taste at taste 1 ( 6 ) , → poorly
COLLOCATIONS
副词
extremely poor His parents were extremely poor.
desperately poor (= so poor that it causes great suffering ) Half the population remains desperately poor.
dirt poor American English informal (= extremely poor ) We were dirt poor back then.
形容词
the rural poor (= poor people who live in the countryside ) Difficult economic conditions have driven millions of the rural poor to cities.
the urban poor (= poor people who live in towns and cities ) The condition of the urban poor could no longer be ignored.
the working poor (= poor people who have jobs, rather than unemployed people ) These tax-cut proposals are targeted at the working poor.
THESAURUS
poor having very little money and not many possessions – used about people or places : Many families were too poor to pay for education. | poor countries
hard up/broke ( also skint British English ) [名词前不用] informal having very little money, especially for a short period of time. Skint is more informal than the other words : I’m a bit hard up at the moment | We were so broke we couldn’t afford to go out to the cinema.
developing [仅用于名词前] a developing country is poor and has very little industry : The disease is found mainly in developing countries. | the developing world
deprived [通常用于名词前] much poorer than other people in a country, and not having the things that are necessary for a comfortable or happy life – used about people and areas : The charity works with deprived children in the inner city. | one of the most deprived areas of London
disadvantaged especially written used about groups of people in society who have much less chance of being successful because they are poor : An increase in the minimum wage would help the most disadvantaged Americans.
needy having very little money, and so needing help – used about groups of people : More help should be given to needy families. | We offer scholarships for needy students.
destitute especially written having no money or possessions and nowhere to live – used when someone is in a very bad situation : Her family was left destitute after her father died. | destitute refugees
impoverished formal impoverished people and places are very poor : out-of-work miners and their impoverished families | The children come from impoverished neighbourhoods. | one of the world’s most impoverished countries
poverty-stricken written extremely poor : poverty-stricken areas | They were left poverty-stricken.
penniless especially literary having no money : She died penniless. | a penniless student
COLLOCATIONS CHECK
deprived area/children/homes/background
disadvantaged groups/children/students/background
needy children/students/families
impoverished families/areas/countries
poverty-stricken areas/countries/people