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as in unacceptable
falling short of a standard a pretty poor musician, even for a garage band

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for poor
Adjective
  • 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
  • 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
  • Exploring Indonesia—an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands—over a decade has led me to some truly jaw-dropping beaches, some gloriously desolate, others vibrantly alive with international travelers, expats, and locals.
    Kathryn Romeyn, Travel + Leisure, 4 Aug. 2025
  • Meanwhile, two days before the double murder, a 21-year-old man was shot and wounded around 3:30 a.m. on the same desolate block, which is about a mile and a half from where Sanchez was killed, cops said.
    Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 2 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Unfortunately, records are scarce due to the truck’s age.
    Erik S. Hanley, jsonline.com, 18 Aug. 2025
  • Firms were willing to incur resources to bring new graduates up the learning curve when software labor was scarce.
    Shivaram Rajgopal, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • In an interview, Pryor said the deputy's actions were unacceptable given the subject's age, regardless of how the series of events truly unfolded.
    Killian Baarlaer, The Courier-Journal, 13 Aug. 2025
  • The critiques have only intensified with each year that passes since the team’s last Super Bowl victory in 1996, with Jones calling the drought unacceptable at the NFL owners meeting earlier this year.
    Lawrence Dow, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 13 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • The phone calls are like guerrilla attacks: her mother is broke and wants the house in Napanee.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 14 Aug. 2025
  • Back then, when a team went broke, finding a new place for it was hard.
    Lori Riley, Hartford Courant, 7 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • For the visual effects supervisors who were tasked with bringing the arctic horrors to life, their challenge was adding depth and value to a barren landscape.
    Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 18 Aug. 2025
  • Deep in the interior lies Askja, a vast volcanic caldera surrounded by a barren lava desert.
    David Nikel, Forbes.com, 16 Aug. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Poor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poor. Accessed 31 Aug. 2025.

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