POOR1 having very little money2 having very little money at the present time3 having fewer opportunities in life because of being poor4 the people in a society who are poor5 when people have very little money6 an area where poor people live7 a poor countryRELATED WORDSoppositeRICHsee alsoMONEYOWEEARNBORROW1 having very little money 只有很少的钱poor /pʊəʳ/ [adjective] They were so poor they couldn't afford to buy shoes for their children. 他们太穷了，连孩子的鞋都买不起。 She was born in a poor district of Chicago in 1925. 她于1925年出生在芝加哥一个贫穷的地区。 People who live in poor countries have a much lower life expectancy. 生活在贫困国家的人预期寿命也低得多。 These cuts will hit the poorest members of society. 这些削减措施将会影响最贫穷的社会成员。 Some Democrats believed they lost the election because many poor women didn't turn out to vote. 有些民主党人认为，因为许多穷苦女性没有出来投票，所以他们在选举中失利。dirt poorAmericanextremely poor 【美】非常贫穷 Her mother grew up dirt poor among migrant workers in Alabama. 她母亲在亚拉巴马州流动工人间极其贫困的环境中长大。badly off /ˌbædli ˈɒf/ [adjective not before noun]having less money than most other people 贫穷的；贫困的 She was quite badly off for a while after her husband died. 丈夫死后的一段时期里她相当穷。 We were pretty poor, but most of our friends were even worse off. 我们很穷，但我们大多数的朋友更加贫困。 No matter how badly off we were, we never went to bed hungry. 不管多么贫困，我们从没有饿着肚子上床睡觉。needy/in need /ˈniːdi, ɪn ˈniːd/ [adjective]needy people or people who are in need do not have enough money to buy food, clothes etc, and deserve help 穷的；贫困的 The fund was established to help needy widows whose husbands had died in the war. 这项基金建立的目的是帮助那些丈夫在战争中阵亡的贫困寡妇。 More aid should be given to needy families. 应当给贫困家庭更多援助。 All profits from the concert will go to help children in need. 音乐会的利润将全部用于帮助贫困儿童。impoverished /ɪmˈpɒvərɪʃtǁ-ˈpɑː-/ [adjective]formalvery poor - use this especially about people or places that were not poor in the past 【正式】贫穷的〔尤指以前不穷的人或地方〕 His family became so impoverished they were forced to sell the farm. 他家变得如此贫穷，以致于不得不变卖农场。 All there was in the region was dry soil and impoverished villages. 那地区只有干涸的土地和贫穷的村庄。poverty-stricken /ˈpɒvəʳti ˌstrɪkənǁˈpɑː-/ [adjective usually before noun]writtenextremely poor, and suffering as a result of this 【书面】极贫穷的；赤贫的 At the moment, many poverty-stricken communities are experiencing a shortage of teachers. 眼下，许多极其贫穷的社区教师紧缺。 His photographs show vividly the lives of poverty-stricken families in the Gorbals area of Glasgow. 他的照片生动地表现了格拉斯哥的戈贝尔地区贫困家庭的生活。destitute /ˈdestɪtjuːt, ˈdestətjuːtǁ-tuːt/ [adjective]especially writtenhaving no money or possessions, and often nowhere to live, especially when there seems to be no possibility of improving the situation 【尤书面】穷困的；赤贫的〔尤指似乎不可能改善境况的〕 In 1860 Father Murphy set up a home for orphans and destitute children. 1860年，墨菲神父建立了一个专门接纳孤儿和贫困儿童的收容所。 The rest of her family all died in a smallpox epidemic, leaving her destitute. 她的家人全都死于天花疫症，丢下她一个人，一贫如洗。2 having very little money at the present time 目前只有很少钱的hard up /ˌhɑːʳd ˈʌp◂/ [adjective phrase not before noun]informalhaving little money at the present time and being unable to buy the things that you need 【非正式】经济拮据的 I'm a little hard up just now -- can I pay you back next week? 眼下我手头有点紧—下星期把钱还给你好吗? She was so hard up that she couldn't afford to heat her apartment. 她手头很拮据，连公寓取暖费都付不起。broke /brəʊk/ [adjective not before noun]informalhaving no money at the moment 【非正式】不名一文的 We're always broke at the end of the month. 每到月底我们就一文不剩了。 Lawrence was so broke he had to wear the same suit to work every day. 劳伦斯身无分文，每天只能穿同一套衣服去上班。flat brokecompletely broke 身无分文 He turned up at my house yesterday, flat broke and hungry. 昨天他出现在我家，身上一个子儿也没有，而且饥肠辘辘。skint /skɪnt/ [adjective not before noun]Britishspokenhaving no money at all 【英口】没钱的；不名一文的 I'm really skint -- you couldn't lend me a few quid could you? 我身上一个子儿也没有——你借我几英镑好不好? At that time I was skint, and I would have taken any job I could get. 那时候我一贫如洗，不管什么工作我都愿意干。be down on your luck /biː ˌdaʊn ɒn jɔːʳ ˈlʌk/ [verb phrase]informalto have had bad luck over a long period of time so that you now have very little money 【非正式】穷困潦倒 We bought the necklace from an old man who was down on his luck and in need of a penny or two. 我们从一个穷困潦倒的老头那里买了这条项链，他需要一点钱。down-on-your-luck [adjective only before noun] In the film, Williams plays a down-on-his luck salesman whose wife has left him. 影片中，威廉斯饰演一个穷困潦倒、被妻子抛弃的销售员。3 having fewer opportunities in life because of being poor 由于贫穷的缘故，生活中的机会比其他人少disadvantaged /ˌdɪsədˈvɑːntɪdʒd◂ǁ-ˈvæn-/ [adjective]especially writtendisadvantaged people or groups have less chance of being successful in life because they are poor -- used especially in social or political contexts 【尤书面】〔人或群体〕下层社会的；贫困的〔尤用于社会或政治文章中〕 The university has announced plans to increase the number of students from minority and disadvantaged groups. 该大学宣布了增加少数民族学生及贫困学生人数的计划。 Quinn argued that an increase in the minimum wage would help the most disadvantaged Americans. 奎因辩称，提高最低工资对最贫困的美国人会有帮助。underprivileged /ˌʌndəʳˈprɪvɪlɪdʒd◂, ˌʌndəʳˈprɪvəlɪdʒd◂/ [adjective usually before noun]having less money and worse living conditions than other people in a society, and little chance of being successful in life 贫穷的；社会经济地位低下的；成功机会比他人少的 Princess Anne has done much to help underprivileged children all over the world. 安妮公主为帮助世界各地的贫困儿童做了大量工作。deprived /dɪˈpraɪvd/ [adjective usually before noun]deprived people are very poor and are not able to find good jobs or get a good education. Adeprived area is one in which people are poor and do not have many advantages 〔人、地区〕贫困的 Most mass demonstrations of this type happen in places where people are enormously deprived. 这种大规模游行大多发生在人们极其贫穷的地方。 Children growing up in deprived areas are far more likely to turn to crime and drug abuse. 在贫困地区长大的孩子犯罪和吸毒的可能性高得多。 Girls from deprived backgrounds often become pregnant at an early age. 出身于贫困家庭的女孩往往很早就怀孕了。4 the people in a society who are poor 一个社会中的穷人poor people/the poor/the needy /ˈpʊəʳ ˌpiːpəl, ðə ˈpʊəʳ, ðə ˈniːdi/ [plural noun]the people in a society who are poor 穷人 The poor always suffer worst in a recession. 经济衰退时，穷人遭到的打击总是最大。 It was fairly common in Victorian times for middle-class women to work among the needy in the big industrial cities. 维多利亚时代，大工业城市中的中产阶级女性在穷人中间工作相当普遍。 Finding adequate housing for the poor has been one of the city council's priorities. 向穷人提供足够的住宅是市政当局优先考虑的问题之一。 The technological revolution has failed to improve the lives of poor people in developing countries. 在发展中国家，技术革命未能改善穷人的生活。the have-nots /ðə ˈhæv nɒts/ [plural noun]the people in society who are poor and have very few possessions compared to people who have a high income and own property, cars etc 穷人〔与高收入或拥有房子、汽车等的人比较时〕the haves and have-nots Society seems to be increasingly divided into the haves rich people and have-nots. 社会似乎不断分化为富人和穷人两大类。5 when people have very little money 几乎没钱时poverty /ˈpɒvəʳtiǁˈpɑː-/ [uncountable noun] Charles was shocked by the poverty he saw in India. 查尔斯为自己在印度所见的贫困现象所震惊。 Poverty and unemployment are two of the biggest causes of crime 贫穷和失业是犯罪的两大起因。dire/abject/grinding etc povertyextreme poverty 赤贫 Seven out of every 10 Guatemalans live in dire poverty and half cannot read or write. 每十个危地马拉人中有七个生活在赤贫中，半数不会读写。live/grow up/be raised etc in poverty Old people should not have to live in poverty. 老年人不应生活贫困。the poverty line/levelthe income below which a person or family is officially considered to be very poor and in need of help 贫穷线/贫穷水平 In Louisiana, one person in four lives below the poverty level. 在路易斯安那，四分之一人口生活在贫穷线以下。hard times /hɑːʳd ˈtaɪmz/ [plural noun]a period when life is difficult because you have little money - use this when you are comparing this to other, better, times 艰难时期〔与好日子相比较时使用〕 There were hard times during my childhood when my parents didn't have work, but generally we were happy. 我小时候父母亲有一段时间没有工作，日子过得很艰难，但总的来说我们是开心的。fall on hard timesbegin to experience hard times 开始经历艰难时期 Many of the girls were from middle class families who had fallen on hard times. 许多女孩出身于家道中落的中产阶级家庭。 After the war my father fell on hard times and sank deeply into debt. 战争结束后我父亲经济拮据，并陷于沉重的债务之中。6 an area where poor people live 穷人居住的地区inner city /ˌɪnəʳ ˈsɪti◂/ [countable noun]the part near the middle of a city where the buildings are in bad condition and where a lot of poor people live 〔市中心附近的〕旧城区，市中心贫民区 the problems of Britain's inner cities 英国市中心贫民区的问题inner-city [adjective only before noun] inner-city schools 旧城区的学校slum /slʌm/ [countable noun]an area of a city where the houses are in very bad condition and the people are very poor and live in dirty, crowded, and unhealthy conditions 贫民窟，贫民区 Maria lives with her eight children in a slum outside Montevideo. 玛丽亚和八个孩子一起住在蒙得维的亚市外的贫民区。the slums I grew up in the East London slums. 我在伦敦东区的贫民窟长大。ghetto /ˈgetəʊ/ [countable noun]a poor and crowded part of a city, where people live separately from the rest of the population, especially people of one race or from one country. Inner city is now more common than ghetto〔尤指同一种族居住的〕贫民区〔现在inner city用得更普遍〕 a novel about life in the ghettos of New York 一部关于纽约贫民区生活的小说 Ottovina lived on the South Side, in the Italian ghetto, and barely spoke any English at all. 奥托维娜住在南区的意大利贫民区，几乎一点英语都不会说。7 a poor country 贫穷的国家developing country/nation /dɪˌveləpɪŋ ˈkʌntri, ˈneɪʃən/ [noun phrase]a country that is not rich and does not have much industry or business activity 发展中国家 Bellamy called on the United States to increase aid to developing nations. 贝拉米要求美国增加对发展中国家的援助。 Leaders of developing countries from around the world met in Indonesia to devise ways to improve their economies. 世界各发展中国家的首脑在印度尼西亚聚首，共同策划发展经济的大计。Third World /ˌθɜːʳd ˈwɜːʳld◂/ [adjective]aThird World country or nation is poor and does not have much industry.Third World is used especially in a negative sense when talking about the problems that these countries face 〔国家〕第三世界的〔在谈论这些国家的问题时尤用作贬义〕the Third Worldthese countries in general 第三世界 Most of the population in the Third World is concentrated in large cities. 第三世界国家的大部分人口集中在大城市。Third World country/nation Sometimes I think that England is becoming a Third World country. 有时我想，英格兰要变成第三世界国家了。