different between moorish vs poorish

English

Etymology

From moor +? -ish.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?m?????/

Adjective

moorish (comparative more moorish, superlative most moorish)

1. (now rare) Of ground, soil etc: boggy, marshy. [from 15th c.]
   • , I.iii.3:

     [G]low-worms, fire-drakes, meteors, ignis fatuus […] with many such that appear in moorish grounds, about churchyards, moist valleys, or where battles have been fought […] .

2. Pertaining to a moor; abounding in moorland. [from 16th c.]
   • 1791, James Boswell, Life of Johnson, Oxford 2008, p. 880:

     He recommended to me to plant a considerable part of a large moorish farm which I had purchased, and he made several calculations of the expence and profit: for he delighted in exercising his mind on the science of numbers.

Synonyms

• moory, quaggy, swampy; see also Thesaurus:marshy

English

Etymology

poor +? -ish

Adjective

poorish (not comparable)

1. Reasonably poor, quite poor.
   • 1957, H. E. Bates, Sugar for the Horse

     She [Mrs. Rivers] went on to say something about still waters running deep and it was on the tip of my tongue to make a poorish pun about still Rivers running deep too […]