different between poor vs niggardly
poor
English
Etymology
From Middle English povre, povere, from Old French (and Anglo-Norman) povre, poure (Modern French pauvre), from Latin pauper (English pauper), from Old Latin *pavo-pars (literally “getting little”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh?w- (“few, small”). Cognate with Old English f?awa (“little, few”). Doublet of pauper.
Displaced native Middle English earm, arm (“poor”) (from Old English earm; See arm), Middle English wantsum, wantsome (“poor, needy”) (from Old Norse vant (“deficiency, lack, want”)), Middle English unlede (“poor”) (from Old English unl?de), Middle English unweli, unwely (“poor, unwealthy”) (from Old English un- + weli? (“well-to-do, prosperous, rich”).
Pronunciation
- (General Australian, General New Zealand) IPA(key): /po?/
- (Canada) IPA(key): /p??/, /pu?/, /p??/
- (Indian English) IPA(key): /?p?(?)?(r)/
- (Received Pronunciation)
- IPA(key): /p??(?)/, /p??(?)/
- (US)
- IPA(key): /p??/, /p??/
- Rhymes: -??(?), -??(?)
- Homophones: pour, pore (with the pour-poor merger)
- Homophone: paw (in some non-rhotic accents, with the pour-poor merger)
Adjective
poor (comparative poorer, superlative poorest)
- With no or few possessions or money, particularly in relation to contemporaries who do have them.
- The poor are always with us.
- Of low quality.
- Used to express pity.
- Thanks to that penny he had just spent so recklessly [on a newspaper] he would pass a happy hour, taken, for once, out of his anxious, despondent, miserable self. It irritated him shrewdly to know that these moments of respite from carking care would not be shared with his poor wife, with careworn, troubled Ellen.
- Deficient in a specified way.
- Inadequate, insufficient.
- a. 1686, Benjamin Calamy, Sermon 1
- That I have wronged no Man, will be a poor plea or apology at the last day.
- a. 1686, Benjamin Calamy, Sermon 1
- Free from self-assertion; not proud or arrogant; meek.
- Blessed are the poor in spirit.
Usage notes
When the word "poor" is used to express pity, it does not change the meaning of the sentence. For example, in the sentence "Give this soup to that poor man!", the word "poor" does not serve to indicate which man is meant (and so the sentence expresses exactly the same command as "Give this soup to that man!"). Instead, the word "poor" merely adds an expression of pity to the sentence.
Synonyms
- (with no or few possessions or money): See Thesaurus:impoverished
- (of low quality): inferior
- (to be pitied): pitiable, arm
Antonyms
- (with no or few possessions): rich, wealthy
- (of low quality): good
- (deficient in a specified way): rich
- (inadequate): adequate
Hyponyms
Derived terms
- deserving poor
- poorhouse
- undeserving poor
Related terms
Translations
Anagrams
- poro-, roop
Limburgish
Etymology
From Walloon porea.
Noun
poor m
- leek
Old French
Noun
poor f (oblique plural poors, nominative singular poor, nominative plural poors)
- fear
poor From the web:
- what poor means
- what poor vision looks like
- what poor circulation can cause
- what poor prognosis means
- what poor eyesight looks like
- what poor astronomers are they
- what poor in spirit means
- what poor instructions make crossword
niggardly
English
Etymology
niggard +? -ly
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /?n???dli/
- (US) IPA(key): /?n???dli/
Adjective
niggardly (comparative more niggardly, superlative most niggardly)
- Withholding for the sake of meanness; stingy, miserly.
- Synonyms: miserly, stingy; see also Thesaurus:stingy
- 1609, Joseph Hall, (paraphrasing Ambrose? in) "No Peace with Rome", in Josiah Pratt (editor), The Works of the Right Reverend Father in God, Joseph Hall, D. D., Vol. IX. Polemical Works, London, (1808), page 57:
- [W]here the owner of the house will be bountiful, it is not for the steward to be niggardly.
- 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, chapter 47
- They were not niggardly, these tramps, and he who had money did not hesitate to share it among the rest.
- 1958, John Kenneth Galbraith, The Affluent Society (1998 edition), ?ISBN, p. 186:
- This manifests itself in an implacable tendency to provide an opulent supply of some things and a niggardly yield of others.
Usage notes
- This term may cause offence, especially in the US, as it is easily confused with niggerly, an adverbial form of the racial slur nigger. The two words are etymologically unrelated.
Translations
Adverb
niggardly (comparative more niggardly, superlative most niggardly)
- (now rare) In a parsimonious way; sparingly, stingily.
- , New York 2001, p.105:
- because many families are compelled to live niggardly, exhaust and undone by great dowers, none shall be given at all, or very little […].
- , New York 2001, p.105:
Translations
Further reading
- Controversies about the word "niggardly" on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
References
niggardly From the web:
- niggardly meaning
- what does niggardly mean urban dictionary
- what is niggardly
- what does niggardly mean in french
- what is niggardly in sentence
- what do niggardly
- what does niggardly spell
you may also like
- poor vs niggardly
- singular vs incomparable
- snarl vs screech
- lumber vs straggle
- natural vs regular
- inadvertence vs remissness
- antipathy vs odium
- prevarication vs equivocal
- win vs rob
- strong vs gleeful
- fascinating vs spirited
- arise vs scale
- shred vs scintilla
- promptness vs aptness
- worthy vs magnanimous
- forecast vs premonish
- presentation vs date
- illimitable vs vast
- intention vs tenor
- enlighten vs voice