The meaning of POOR is lacking sufficient money or material possessions. How to use poor in a sentence. POOR definition: 1. having little money and/or few possessions: 2. to have very little of a particular substance or…. Learn more. POOR meaning: 1. having little money and/or few possessions: 2. to have very little of a particular substance or…. Learn more. Synonyms for POOR: impoverished, broke, deprived, needy, beggared, indigent, bankrupt, impecunious; Antonyms of POOR: rich, wealthy, affluent, fat, well-to-do, opulent, moneyed, flush 1. having little or no money, goods, or other means of support. 2. Law. dependent upon charity or public support. 3. (of a country, institution, etc.) meagerly supplied or endowed with resources or funds. 4. characterized by or showing poverty. Poor refers to lacking sufficient amount or quality, particularly in terms of material possessions, wealth or money. It can also denote inadequacy in non-monetary terms such as health, knowledge or quality. POOR definition: having little or no money, goods, or other means of support. See examples of poor used in a sentence. The countable sense of poor, despite having a long history and continuing existence in some Scottish dialects, is now generally parsed as nonstandard slang and frequently employed with ironic condescension as a critique of supposed upper-class views towards the poor. Poverty is said to exist when people lack the means to satisfy their basic needs. In this context, the identification of poor people first requires a determination of what constitutes basic needs. 1. needy, indigent, necessitous, straitened, destitute, penniless, poverty-stricken. Poor, impecunious, impoverished, penniless refer to those lacking money.