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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in unacceptable
falling short of a standard
a pretty poor musician, even for a garage band
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
5
as in terrible
of low quality
the poor workmanship of the goods from that store
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
6
as in pitiful
deserving of one's pity
aw, the poor kitten hurt its paw
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Try This Instead
Try This InsteadFor
Try This
poor quality
a poor judgment
an unwise judgment
a lousy judgment
a questionable judgment
a horrible judgment
an improper judgment
a poor performance
a weak performance
an unacceptable performance
a negative performance
an inadequate performance
a horrendous performance
a poor condition
a deteriorated condition
a shabby condition
a sub-par condition
a shoddy condition
a pitiful condition
poor nutrition
unbalanced nutrition
improper nutrition
deficient nutrition
unhealthy nutrition
insufficient nutrition
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of poor
These factors could contribute material risk to Nike’s earnings and put the company in a poor position to manage near-term headwinds.
—
Lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 30 Apr. 2025
Just over three-fourths of participants, 76 percent, described the economy as fair or poor, while 22 percent rated it as excellent or good.
—Mohammed Soliman, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Apr. 2025
Juan believes that privatization would lead to poor working conditions and disinvestment in machines and maintenance.
—E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, 29 Apr. 2025
Tovar, 32, grew up poor and was the first in her family to graduate from high school.
—Brett Kelman, NPR, 28 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for poor
Lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 30 Apr. 2025
Just over three-fourths of participants, 76 percent, described the economy as fair or poor, while 22 percent rated it as excellent or good.
—Mohammed Soliman, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Apr. 2025
Juan believes that privatization would lead to poor working conditions and disinvestment in machines and maintenance.
—E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, 29 Apr. 2025
Tovar, 32, grew up poor and was the first in her family to graduate from high school.
—Brett Kelman, NPR, 28 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for poor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for poor
Adjective
-
Pope Francis was the first pope to take the name of St. Francis of Assisi, well-known for his call for engagement with the impoverished, love of creation and the Church.—
Gabriele Regalbuto,
FOXNews.com,
26 Apr. 2025
-
The dedication to care for impoverished women and children continues to influence the culture and values of Mercy today.—
Ross Rosenfeld,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
The Memphis rapper began the show with dramatics, rising on a giant platform with her back to the audience as a screen behind her projected the image of a desolate street.—
John Lonsdale,
Rolling Stone,
12 Apr. 2025
-
The food and atmosphere had people from across the city willing to venture to a desolate stretch of Bushwick.—
Jeremy Repanich,
Robb Report,
7 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
The area normally can expect 38.4 inches, according to the National Weather Service. Chicago was warmer than average during the 2023-24 season, which meant snow was scarce.—
Kori Rumore,
Chicago Tribune,
21 Apr. 2025
-
Food was scarce, basic hygiene was a challenge, and tropical bugs feasted on our bodies.—
Lauren Vuong,
Mercury News,
19 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Shapiro told reporters at a news conference on April 16 that regardless of the motivation for the crime, political violence must be condemned as unacceptable in our society.—
Riley Beggin,
USA Today,
18 Apr. 2025
-
Tom Schwartz later says that the behavior is completely unacceptable, as does Jason.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
16 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
United have fallen massively and it’s been a terrible watch all season, bar a couple of highs.—
Andy Mitten,
New York Times,
28 Apr. 2025
-
Public interest in the film intensified after a stroke of terrible happenstance.—
Jelani Cobb,
New Yorker,
28 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Look, everyone points to injuries as the reason for the pitiful performance so far this season, but a lot of teams are dealing with injuries.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
21 Apr. 2025
-
So many of the latter comes thanks to Niecy Nash’s Nurse DiDi, who seems to take the time to see her patients as worthwhile much more often than her cohorts, the self-important Dr. Jenna James (Laurie Metcalf) and pitiful nurse Dawn (Alex Borstein).—
Maggie Fremont,
Vulture,
21 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The match-up broke ratings records, with nearly 128 million viewers tuning in, according to Nielsen.—
Judy Kurtz,
The Hill,
26 Mar. 2025
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Fake Wedding follows two broke singles who throw a fake wedding to cash in on the registry and the very real problems the make-believe couple encounters.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
17 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
So, why would an elite striker commit to two potentially barren years?—
Mark Carey,
New York Times,
14 Apr. 2025
-
The list includes mostly barren Antarctic islands with no imports or exports. 0:51 President Donald Trump's sweeping new set of tariffs impact friend and foe alike, but also on the list are uninhabited islands while some glaring omissions include Russia and Iran.—
Shannon K. Kingston,
ABC News,
3 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Poor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poor. Accessed 3 May. 2025.
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