# poor

> English word · Adjective · IPA /pʊɚ/ · frequency rank #855

## Definitions
1. With no or few possessions or money, particularly in relation to contemporaries who do have them.
2. Of low quality.
3. Worthy of pity.
4. Deficient in a specified way.
5. Inadequate, insufficient.
6. Free from self-assertion; not proud or arrogant; meek.

## 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”)).

## Easily confused with
- **PR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poor-vs-pr)
- **pro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poor-vs-pro)
- **pop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poor-vs-pop)
- **pot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poor-vs-pot)
- **pos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poor-vs-pos)
- **POW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poor-vs-pow)
- **POV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poor-vs-pov)
- **pox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poor-vs-pox)
- **pur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poor-vs-pur)
- **PTO** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poor-vs-pto)
- **post** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poor-vs-post)
- **port** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poor-vs-port)
- **porn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poor-vs-porn)
- **pope** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poor-vs-pope)
- **pose** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poor-vs-pose)
- **pour** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poor-vs-pour)
- **pork** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poor-vs-pork)
- **pops** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poor-vs-pops)
- **pros** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poor-vs-pros)
- **prom** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poor-vs-prom)

## Common misspellings (5)
`opor`, `poorr`, `por`, `poro`, `ppoor`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/poor