poor
/pʊɚ/
"poor" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“poor” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #855. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #855
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - With no or few possessions or money, particularly in relation to contemporaries who do have them.
Corpus desk
Index EN-poor · poor · English
poor · rank #855 · 5 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-CORE #855
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 5 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 46,516
- PHOTO-FINISH perhaps
Nearest frequency peer: perhaps (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “poor”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- kill
kill
99,149 corpus weight
- met
met
99,148 corpus weight
- perhaps
perhaps
99,147 corpus weight
- poor
poor
99,146 corpus weight
- release
release
99,145 corpus weight
- situation
situation
99,144 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “poor” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | poor |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /pʊɚ/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #855 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “poor” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 5 spelling variants around poor (IPA /pʊɚ/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #855 among 46,516 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for poor, with forms such as "opor", "poorr", and "por". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "PR", "pro", "pop", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English povre, povere, from Old French (and Anglo-Norman) povre, poure, from Latin pauper, from Old Latin *pavo-pars (literally “getting little”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, small”). Doublet of pauper. Displaced native arm… The correct English form is poor, spelled P-O-O-R.
Definition
- 1With no or few possessions or money, particularly in relation to contemporaries who do have them.
- 2Of low quality.
- 3Worthy of pity.
- 4Deficient in a specified way.
- 5Inadequate, insufficient.
- 6Free from self-assertion; not proud or arrogant; meek.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how poor appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
We were so poor that we couldn't afford shoes.
England is growne to ſuch a paſſe of late, That rich men triumph to ſee the poore beg at their gate.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English povre, povere, from Old French (and Anglo-Norman) povre, poure, from Latin pauper, from Old Latin *pavo-pars (literally “getting little”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, small”). Doublet of pauper. Displaced native arm, wantsome, Middle English unlede (“poor”) (from Old English unlǣde), Middle English unweli, unwely (“poor, unwealthy”) (from Old English un- + weliġ (“well-to-do, prosperous, rich”)).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- opor
- poorr
- por
- poro
- ppoor
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of poor - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "poor", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.