poormouth
English · Thesaurus
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poormouth
Where it comes from
From poor + mouth.
noun poormouths · poor-mouth · poor mouth
- A poor (impoverished) person, or one who claims to be so; especially, one who cries poormouth (conspicuously makes this claim). Writing in The Observer the other week about his brief visit to Montreal, Mr. St. John Ervine, in his characteristically direct and concise fashion, expresses himself in a practical way that should not be without effect. […] "This is no continent for poormouths, for people who cannot do this or that
verb poormouths · poormouthing · poormouthed · poor-mouth · poor mouth
-
To claim to be poor.
On the other hand one does not want to arrive “poor-mouthing it” in some outrageous turtleneck and West Eighth Street bell-jean combination, as if one is “funky” and of “the people.”
Similar: cry poormouth
- To badmouth (someone or something). […] of course, such spirited defense of their ships is, up to a point, praiseworthy. And certainly any skipper who poormouths his own ship should be fired. On the other hand, the mature naval officer, if he is to make the most effective contributions possible to his Navy over the years, both at sea
Translations
Every language
verb claim to be poor
| 中文 | 哭窮 /哭穷 kūqióng |
|---|---|
| Русский | прибедняться pribednjatʹsja |
Talk about this word "poormouth." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/poormouth. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026. poormouth. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 7, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/poormouth "poormouth." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/poormouth.Cite this
@misc{poormouth_2026,
title = {poormouth},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/poormouth},
urldate = {2026-11-07}
}
