as in impoverished
lacking money or material possessions
growing up dirt-poor in the rural South
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Recent Examples of dirt-poor
Many readers addressed their fan letters not to the author, Betty Smith, but to her main character, Francie Nolan, a dirt-poor tenement child with big dreams.
—
Perri Klass, The New Yorker, 30 Dec. 2024
Many readers addressed their fan letters not to the author, Betty Smith, but to her main character, Francie Nolan, a dirt-poor tenement child with big dreams.
—Perri Klass, The New Yorker, 30 Dec. 2024
Shot in a single take, Night Shift tells the story of a desperate and dirt-poor Khun (played by Chatchai), who decides to pack things up to have a better life in the city.
—Sara Merican, Deadline, 31 Oct. 2024
When Nitish Kumar became chief minister of the dirt-poor Indian state of Bihar in 2005, kidnapping was said to be the leading industry in the capital city of Patna.
—Ruchir Sharma, Foreign Affairs, 12 Aug. 2013
My mom grew up with very-not-amicably divorced parents, one of whom (her father) was well-off and the other (her mother, the primary parent) was dirt-poor.
—R29 Team, refinery29.com, 12 Aug. 2024
Like their grandmother, the village girl from Italy’s dirt-poor south who morphed into a sophisticated Parisian muse, the siblings’ identities are hard to pin down.
—Mark Ellwood, Robb Report, 3 Aug. 2024
However, through decades of hard work, focus and persistence, the dirt-poor farm laborer became a space traveler.
—Contributing Writer, Orange County Register, 23 Apr. 2024
Perri Klass, The New Yorker, 30 Dec. 2024
Many readers addressed their fan letters not to the author, Betty Smith, but to her main character, Francie Nolan, a dirt-poor tenement child with big dreams.
—Perri Klass, The New Yorker, 30 Dec. 2024
Shot in a single take, Night Shift tells the story of a desperate and dirt-poor Khun (played by Chatchai), who decides to pack things up to have a better life in the city.
—Sara Merican, Deadline, 31 Oct. 2024
When Nitish Kumar became chief minister of the dirt-poor Indian state of Bihar in 2005, kidnapping was said to be the leading industry in the capital city of Patna.
—Ruchir Sharma, Foreign Affairs, 12 Aug. 2013
My mom grew up with very-not-amicably divorced parents, one of whom (her father) was well-off and the other (her mother, the primary parent) was dirt-poor.
—R29 Team, refinery29.com, 12 Aug. 2024
Like their grandmother, the village girl from Italy’s dirt-poor south who morphed into a sophisticated Parisian muse, the siblings’ identities are hard to pin down.
—Mark Ellwood, Robb Report, 3 Aug. 2024
However, through decades of hard work, focus and persistence, the dirt-poor farm laborer became a space traveler.
—Contributing Writer, Orange County Register, 23 Apr. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dirt-poor
Adjective
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Eagerly drinking the Kool-Aid is Simone DeWitt (Alcock), a formerly impoverished but deeply ambitious upstart from Buffalo who gets a taste of the lifestyle of the rich and famous as Michaela's uppity assistant.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
23 May 2025
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That could mean removing spending from public school meal programs for impoverished children, removing access to health care to people with developmental disabilities, or cutting Social Security payments to even the deficit.—
Paul Du Quenoy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
19 May 2025
Adjective
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This tactic is sometimes used to justify letting an employee go under the guise of poor performance.—
Sho Dewan,
Forbes.com,
24 May 2025
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The original doesn’t go that deeply into it, but this poor girl was essentially forced to be a teen mom at this time in her life when all of her friends would be graduating high school and dating and thinking about their futures.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
24 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dirt-poor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dirt-poor. Accessed 27 May. 2025.
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