1
as in impoverished
lacking money or material possessions
every year, we make up a basket of food at Thanksgiving for a poor family in the neighborhood
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in desolate
producing inferior or only a small amount of vegetation
land that is too poor for farming
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in scarce
less plentiful than what is normal, necessary, or desirable
a poor crop because of the drought this year
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in unacceptable
falling short of a standard
a pretty poor musician, even for a garage band
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
5
as in terrible
of low quality
the poor workmanship of the goods from that store
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6
as in pitiful
deserving of one's pity
aw, the poor kitten hurt its paw
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of poor
While poor earnings could send tech stocks down momentarily, the S&P 500 has yielded returns in most years since its inception.
—
Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2025
Users began complaining about Color Labs’ lack of features, technical problems, and poor user experience.
—Harvard Business Review, 27 Aug. 2025
The film’s poor reception effectively killed those plans.
—Zack Sharf, Variety, 27 Aug. 2025
This implies a poor Debt-to-Equity Ratio of 52.5% (vs. 19.4% for S&P 500).
—Trefis Team, Forbes.com, 16 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for poor
Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2025
Users began complaining about Color Labs’ lack of features, technical problems, and poor user experience.
—Harvard Business Review, 27 Aug. 2025
The film’s poor reception effectively killed those plans.
—Zack Sharf, Variety, 27 Aug. 2025
This implies a poor Debt-to-Equity Ratio of 52.5% (vs. 19.4% for S&P 500).
—Trefis Team, Forbes.com, 16 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for poor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for poor
Adjective
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Many people, especially those of us raised in impoverished (in the widest sense of the word) environments, spend their twenties banging their heads against a wall.—
Jane Ciabattari
August 19,
Literary Hub,
19 Aug. 2025
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As with many of his innovations and creations, the inspiration for his unbreakable porcelain came from his impoverished childhood.—
Anthony DeMarco,
Forbes.com,
18 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The film opens in the desolate Arctic, where Victor has chased his creation, and flashes back as Frankenstein relates his life’s story to a Danish sea captain whose ship is stuck in the ice.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
30 Aug. 2025
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Springsteen wouldn’t even allow his photo to appear on the album cover, instead choosing a black-and-white image from the POV of the inside of a car traveling down a desolate highway on a cloudy day.—
Pete Hammond,
Deadline,
29 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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In that way, Gabbard yet again sacrificed scarce and even unique expertise to please the president.—
Andreas Kluth,
Twin Cities,
28 Aug. 2025
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Junk food is cheap, readily available, and aggressively marketed—while healthy food is scarce and expensive.—
Brian Castrucci,
Forbes.com,
28 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Hertz’s 10-month delay in contacting you is unacceptable and likely violates their own policies for handling claims efficiently.—
Christopher Elliott,
Mercury News,
28 Aug. 2025
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By the federal government’s own standards, USAID’s fire sale is unacceptable.—
Hana Kiros,
The Atlantic,
26 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Whether your team is in the middle of a winning run or mired in terrible form, five minutes looking at the standings can convince you that a hundred different futures are possible.—
Anantaajith Raghuraman,
New York Times,
14 Aug. 2025
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While the latter is known for its legendarily terrible English localization, both of these were highly innovative horizontal scrolling shmups for their time.—
Ollie Barder,
Forbes.com,
14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Fried wasn’t the only reason the Yankees lost on Sunday, as the Bombers’ bats were pitiful against Jason Alexander.—
Gary Phillips,
New York Daily News,
10 Aug. 2025
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This negative sentiment was also felt on both sides of the Atlantic, given their pitiful plummet in popularity.—
Brie Stimson , Stephanie Nolasco,
FOXNews.com,
25 July 2025
Adjective
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The phone calls are like guerrilla attacks: her mother is broke and wants the house in Napanee.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Aug. 2025
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Back then, when a team went broke, finding a new place for it was hard.—
Lori Riley,
Hartford Courant,
7 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Those fleeting, vibrant days are the perfect time for hiking through a mix of wooded mountainside, barren volcanic landscapes, and marshland, with stops at some of Japan’s most rustic hot springs.—
Rob Goss,
AFAR Media,
26 Aug. 2025
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Whether nestled in lush forests or barren deserts, these towns bear the scars of time, showcasing human ingenuity while reminding us of the inevitability of decay.—
Kieron Marchese,
Architectural Digest,
25 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Poor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poor. Accessed 3 Sep. 2025.
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