WordGarden.iopoorness
A1Pronunciation
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Meanings
Noun
the state of lacking money or material resources
the quality of being low in quality, adequacy, or richness
Beyond the definition
Poorness usually refers to the state of being poor, especially not having enough money or resources for a decent life. It can describe real hardship, like a family struggling to pay for food, housing, or clothes. It can also be used in a wider sense for something that lacks quality or richness, such as the poorness of a performance or the poorness of the soil. The word is understandable, but in everyday English, people often use poverty when talking about money and poor quality or weakness when talking about other kinds of lack.
Poorness is the state of being poor. Most often, it refers to a lack of money, property, or the basic resources needed to live well. In that sense, it is close in meaning to poverty. If someone speaks about the poorness of a community, they usually mean that many people there live with financial hardship and limited means.
The word can also be used more broadly for a lack of quality, strength, richness, or value. For example, someone might mention the poorness of the soil, meaning that it does not have what plants need to grow well. A reviewer could speak of the poorness of a performance, meaning it was weak or disappointing. In this wider sense, the word points to something being thin, limited, or not good enough.
Still, poorness is not the most common choice in modern English. In many cases, native speakers would more naturally say poverty for lack of money, or use phrases like poor quality, weakness, or lack for other meanings. That makes poorness a real and useful word, but one that often sounds a little formal, literary, or uncommon depending on the sentence.
So when you see poorness, think of a condition of not having enough, whether that means money and material support or enough quality in something. The core idea is simple: something is lacking, and that lack is serious enough to be noticed.
Examples
- 1
Soil quality
The poorness of the soil made it hard to grow vegetables.
- 2
Sound quality
Reviewers complained about the poorness of the sound in the recording.
- 3
Evidence quality
The poorness of the evidence made the accusation hard to believe.
- 4
Everyday wording
The article discusses childhood poorness, but in everyday English, people usually say childhood poverty.
- Usage
poorness is much less common than poverty when talking about lack of money
See also
Forms and spellings
1 form open this card.
Main spelling
- poornessnoun