Poor describes having very little money or few possessions. A poor family struggles to afford basic necessities like food, clothing, and housing. Being poor means making difficult choices: should we fix the car or buy groceries? Can we afford new shoes when the old ones wear out?

The word also means lacking in quality or skill. A poor performance in the school play means the actors forgot their lines or didn't project their voices. Poor soil produces weak, stunted plants. A poor excuse is one nobody believes because it's flimsy or obviously made up.

When someone makes a poor choice, they've decided unwisely, like choosing to play video games instead of studying for tomorrow's big test. Poor timing means doing something at the worst possible moment, like telling a joke right when the teacher asks for silence.

The phrase poor thing expresses sympathy: “The poor dog was shivering in the rain.” This shows that poor can also mean unfortunate or deserving of compassion, separate from wealth.

Notice the difference between being poor and being impoverished, which suggests extreme, grinding poverty, or broke, which often describes a temporary lack of money. Poor can describe a long-term condition, though people's circumstances can change.