Tra từ poor - Từ điển Oxford Advanced Learner 8th

poor [poor poorer poorest] BrE [pɔː(r)] NAmE [pɔːr] BrE [pʊə(r)] NAmE [pʊr] adjective (poor·er, poor·est)

HAVING LITTLE MONEY
1. having very little money; not having enough money for basic needs
• They were too poor to buy shoes for the kids.
• We aim to help the poorest families.
•It's among the poorer countries of the world.
Opp: ↑rich
2. the poornoun plural people who have very little money
•They provided food and shelter for the poor.
Opp: ↑rich

UNFORTUNATE
3. only before noun deserving pity and sympathy
• Have you heard about poor old Harry? His wife's left him.
• It's hungry— the poor little thing.
•‘I have stacks of homework to do.’ ‘Oh, you poor thing.’

NOT GOOD
4. not good; of a quality that is low or lower than expected
•the party's poor performance in the election
•to be in poor health
• It was raining heavily and visibility was poor.
•poor food/light/soil
•to have a poor opinion of sb (= to not think well of sb)
5. (of a person)not good or skilled at sth
•a poor swimmer
•a poor judge of character
• She's a good teacher but a poor manager.
•a poor sailor (= sb who easily gets sick at sea)

HAVING LITTLE OF STH
6. ~ in sth having very small amounts of sth
•a country poor in natural resources
•soil poor in nutrients
Opp: ↑rich
more at give a good/poor account of yourself at ↑account _n.
Idioms: a poor second/third ▪ ↑poor man's somebody

Word Origin:
Middle English: from Old French poure, from Latin pauper.

Thesaurus:
poor adj.
1.
•They were too poor to buy shoes for the kids.
needy • • impoverished • • deprived • • disadvantaged • • destitute • |informal hard up • • broke • |literary penniless •
Opp: rich, Opp: wealthy, Opp: affluent
poor/needy/impoverished/deprived/disadvantaged/destitute/hard up people/families
poor/needy/impoverished/deprived/disadvantaged/destitute children
poor/needy/impoverished/deprived/disadvantaged groups/areas
a/an poor/impoverished/deprived/disadvantaged background
Which word? Poor is the most general of these words. Needy is used to describe groups of people, not individuals. Impoverished is used to talk about poor countries and their people. To talk about poor areas in rich countries use deprived.
2.
•The work was of poor quality.
bad • • cheap • • low • • second-rate • • inferior • |informal dismal • |BrE, informal hopeless • |BrE, taboo, slang crap • • shit • |AmE, taboo, slang crappy • • shitty •
Opp: fine
a/an poor/bad/cheap/second-rate/inferior copy/imitation
poor/bad/low/second-rate/inferior quality
a/an poor/bad/inferior/dismal/crap/shit/crappy/shitty performance
Poor or bad? Bad is used more in informal spoken English; poor is more frequent in written English. Some words do not collocate with both:
•a poor standard of living
✗ a bad standard of living:
•I don't think it's a bad school.
✗ I don't think it's a poor school.
3.
•He's a good teacher but a poor manager.
incompetent • • inept • • inadequate • |especially spoken bad • |informal useless • • rotten •
Opp: good
poor/inept/bad/useless/rotten at sth
a poor/incompetent/bad/useless/rotten teacher/driver

Synonyms:
poor
disadvantaged • needy • impoverished • deprived • penniless • hard up
These words all describe sb who has very little or no money and therefore cannot satisfy their basic needs.
poor • having very little money; not having enough money for basic needs: ▪ They were too poor to buy shoes for the kids.
disadvantaged • having less money and fewer opportunities than most people in society: ▪ socially disadvantaged sections of the community
needy • poor: ▪ It's a charity that provides help for needy children.
impoverished • (journalism) poor: ▪ Thousands of impoverished peasants are desperate to move to the cities.
deprived • [usually before noun] without enough food, education, and all the things that are necessary for people to live a happy and comfortable life
poor, needy, impoverished or deprived?
Poor is the most general of these words and can be used to describe yourself, another individual person, people as a group, or a country or an area. Needy is mostly used to describe people considered as a group: it is not used to talk about yourself or individual people: ▪ poor/needy children/families ◇ They were too needy to buy shoes for the kids. Impoverished is used, especially in journalism, to talk about poor countries and the people who live there. To talk about poor areas in rich countries, use deprived.
penniless • (literary) having no money; very poor: ▪ He died penniless in Paris.
hard up • (informal) having very little money, especially for a short period of time: ▪ I was always hard up as a student.
poor/disadvantaged/needy/impoverished/deprived/penniless/hard-up people/families
poor/disadvantaged/needy/impoverished/deprived areas
poor/disadvantaged/impoverished countries
a(n) poor/disadvantaged/impoverished/deprived background

Example Bank:
•He was getting richer and richer as they got poorer and poorer.
•The work was of an extremely poor standard.
•These crops are poor in nutrients.
•They remained poor all their lives.
•I may be dirt poor, but I have my pride.
•I'm afraid I'm rather a poor sailor.
•It's among the poorer countries of the world.
•On the whole he had a poor opinion of human nature.
•She's a good teacher but a poor manager.
•She's been in poor health for some time now.
•Such a poor swimmer would not survive in that water for long.
•They always treated me like a poor relation.
•We discussed the party's poor performance in the election.
•We tried to keep working in the poor light.