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Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
poor (adjective)
1.
a) lacking material possessions
b) of, relating to, or characterized by poverty
2.
a) less than adequate - meager
b) small in worth
3.
exciting pity - you poor thing
4.
a) inferior in quality or value
b) - humble unpretentious
c) - mean petty
5.
- lean emaciated
6.
- barren unproductive used of land
7.
- indifferent unfavorable
8.
lacking a normal or adequate supply of something specified - often used in combination oil-poor countries
Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus
poor (adjective)
1.
lacking money or material possessions
SYNONIMS:
beggared, beggarly, broke, destitute, dirt-poor, down-and-out, famished, hard up, impecunious, impoverished, indigent, necessitous, needful, needy, pauperized, penniless, penurious, poverty-stricken, skint, threadbare
RELATED WORDS:
deprived, disadvantaged, dispossessed, unaffluent, underprivileged; bankrupt, bankrupted, bust ( busted), insolvent; possessionless, ruined; depressed, distressed, hand-to-mouth, hardscrabble, pinched, poorish, reduced, straitened; cash-strapped, low, short, tapped out
down on one's luck, out at elbows ( out at the elbows), out of pocket
NEAR ANTONYMS:
comfortable, prosperous
affluent, deep-pocketed, fat, fat-cat, flush, moneyed ( monied), opulent, rich, silk-stocking, wealthy, well-heeled, well-off, well-to-do
poor (adjective)
2.
producing inferior or only a small amount of vegetation
SYNONIMS:
bony ( boney), dead, desolate, hardscrabble, impoverished, infertile, poor, stark, unfertile, unproductive, waste
RELATED WORDS:
bleak, inhospitable, lifeless; uncultivable, untillable; bankrupted, consumed, debilitated, depleted, diminished, drained, dried-up, enfeebled, exhausted, expended, lessened, reduced, spent, used up; arid, desert, droughty, dry, rainless, sere ( sear), thirsty, waterless; baked, dehydrated, parched, sunbaked
NEAR ANTONYMS:
arable, tillable; green, sylvan, verdant
fertile, fruitful, lush, luxuriant, productive, rich
poor (adjective)
3.
less plentiful than what is normal, necessary, or desirable
SYNONIMS:
exiguous, hand-to-mouth, light, niggardly, poor, scant, scanty, scarce, skimp, skimpy, slender, slim, spare, sparing, sparse, stingy
RELATED WORDS:
deficient, inadequate, insufficient, lacking, short, wanting; bare, bare-bones; least, littlest, lowest, mere, minimal, slightest; slight, small, thin; barren, infertile, sterile, unfruitful, unproductive
NEAR ANTONYMS:
adequate, enough, satisfactory, sufficient, tolerable; fat, fecund, fertile, fruitful, prolific, rich; lavish, luxuriant; blooming, bursting, flourishing, proliferative, swarming, teeming, thriving; excess, extra, surplus
abundant, ample, bountiful, copious, generous, liberal, plenteous, plentiful
poor (adjective)
4.
falling short of a standard
SYNONIMS:
bastard, bush, bush-league, crummy ( crumby), deficient, dissatisfactory, ill, inferior, lame, lousy, off, paltry, poor, punk, sour, suboptimal, subpar, substandard, unacceptable, unsatisfactory, wack, wanting, wretched, wrong
RELATED WORDS:
abysmal, atrocious, awful, bitchin' [], brutal, damnable, deplorable, detestable, disastrous, dreadful, execrable, gnarly [], horrendous, horrible, pathetic, stinky, sucky [], terrible, unspeakable; defective, faulty, flawed; egregious, flagrant, gross; bum, cheesy, coarse, common, crappy [], cut-rate, junky, lesser, low-grade, low-rent, mediocre, miserable, reprehensible, rotten, rubbishy, second-rate, shoddy, sleazy, trashy; abominable, odious, vile; useless, valueless, worthless; inadequate, insufficient, lacking, meager ( meagre), mean, miserly, niggardly, scanty, shabby, short, skimp, skimpy, spare, stingy; miscreant, scurrilous, villainous; counterfeit, fake, phony ( phoney), sham
NEAR ANTONYMS:
classic, classical; A1, bang-up, banner, boss [], capital, choice, crackerjack, dandy, divine, excellent, exceptional, fabulous, fine, first-class, first-rate, grand, great, groovy, heavenly, high-test, jim-dandy, keen, marvelous ( marvellous), mean, neat, nifty, noble, par excellence, perfect, premium, prime, sensational, slick, splendid, stellar, sterling, superb, superior, superlative, supernal, swell, terrific, tip-top, top, top-notch, unsurpassed, wonderful; better, exceptional, fancy, high-grade, special, sufficient; average, borderline, fair, mediocre, middling, minimal, so-so, unexceptional; suitable, useful, worthy; gratifying, satisfying
acceptable, adequate, all right, decent, fine, OK ( okay), passable, respectable, satisfactory, standard, tolerable
poor (adjective)
5.
of low quality
SYNONIMS:
bad, bargain-basement, bum, cheapjack, cheesy, coarse, common, crappy, cut-rate, el cheapo, execrable, gimcrack, inferior, junky, lousy, low-grade, low-rent, mediocre, miserable, poor, rotten, rubbishy, schlock ( schlocky shlock shlocky), second-rate, shoddy, sleazy, terrible, trashy, trumpery, wretched
RELATED WORDS:
useless, valueless, worthless; indifferent, lackluster, second-class; brummagem, flashy, garish, gaudy, glitzy, kitsch, kitschy, meretricious, ostentatious, showy, splashy, swank ( swanky), tawdry; seedy, shabby, tacky; counterfeit, fake, phony ( phoney), sham; supercheap, ultracheap
NEAR ANTONYMS:
elegant, handsome, tasteful; handcrafted, polished, refined
excellent, fine, first-class, first-rate, good, high-grade, superior, top-notch
poor (adjective)
6.
deserving of one's pity
SYNONIMS:
heartbreaking, heartrending, miserable, piteous, pitiable, pitiful, poor, rueful, sorry, wretched
RELATED WORDS:
deplorable, lamentable, regrettable; emotional, impressive, inspiring; affecting, moving, poignant, stirring, touching; awful, horrible, terrible; distressing, disturbing, upsetting; grievous, mournful, sad, sorrowful, woeful
NEAR ANTONYMS:
unimpressive, uninspiring

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