"dirt-poor" meaning in English

See dirt-poor in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

Audio: en-au-dirt-poor.ogg Forms: dirt poor [alternative]
Etymology: An inversion of the earlier poor as dirt (compare whip-smart or smart as a whip). Head templates: {{en-adj|-}} dirt-poor (not comparable)
  1. (idiomatic) In a condition of extreme poverty. Tags: idiomatic, not-comparable Categories (topical): Money, Poverty Translations (very poor): brandarm (Afrikaans), straatarm (Dutch), rutiköyhä (Finnish), bettelarm (German), bláfátækur (Icelandic), beo bocht (Irish), przeubogi (Polish), paupérrimo (Spanish)

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_text": "An inversion of the earlier poor as dirt (compare whip-smart or smart as a whip).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "dirt poor",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "dirt-poor (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "filthy rich"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Afrikaans translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Dutch translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Hungarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Icelandic translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Irish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Money",
          "orig": "en:Money",
          "parents": [
            "Business",
            "Economics",
            "Society",
            "Social sciences",
            "All topics",
            "Sciences",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Poverty",
          "orig": "en:Poverty",
          "parents": [
            "Wealth",
            "Economics",
            "Social sciences",
            "Sciences",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1975 August 18, “Religion: Blood and Land”, in Time:",
          "text": "In recent months, the dirt-poor peasants of Honduras have invaded farms and blockaded bridges to force the government to fulfill its promises.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007 August 4, “A critical election for ‘the best dressed man in Turkey’”, in The Week, 625, 16:",
          "text": "A few years ago it was a dirt-poor outpost populated by rural migrants.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In a condition of extreme poverty."
      ],
      "id": "en-dirt-poor-en-adj-njSTNtkt",
      "links": [
        [
          "extreme",
          "extreme"
        ],
        [
          "poverty",
          "poverty"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) In a condition of extreme poverty."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "not-comparable"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "af",
          "lang": "Afrikaans",
          "sense": "very poor",
          "word": "brandarm"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "very poor",
          "word": "straatarm"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "very poor",
          "word": "rutiköyhä"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "very poor",
          "word": "bettelarm"
        },
        {
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "sense": "very poor",
          "word": "bláfátækur"
        },
        {
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "very poor",
          "word": "beo bocht"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "very poor",
          "word": "przeubogi"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "very poor",
          "word": "paupérrimo"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-dirt-poor.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/2c/En-au-dirt-poor.ogg/En-au-dirt-poor.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/En-au-dirt-poor.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "dirt-poor"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "An inversion of the earlier poor as dirt (compare whip-smart or smart as a whip).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "dirt poor",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "dirt-poor (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "filthy rich"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English adjectives",
        "English compound adjectives",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English uncomparable adjectives",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Requests for review of Hungarian translations",
        "Terms with Afrikaans translations",
        "Terms with Dutch translations",
        "Terms with Finnish translations",
        "Terms with German translations",
        "Terms with Hungarian translations",
        "Terms with Icelandic translations",
        "Terms with Irish translations",
        "Terms with Polish translations",
        "Terms with Spanish translations",
        "en:Money",
        "en:Poverty"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1975 August 18, “Religion: Blood and Land”, in Time:",
          "text": "In recent months, the dirt-poor peasants of Honduras have invaded farms and blockaded bridges to force the government to fulfill its promises.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007 August 4, “A critical election for ‘the best dressed man in Turkey’”, in The Week, 625, 16:",
          "text": "A few years ago it was a dirt-poor outpost populated by rural migrants.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In a condition of extreme poverty."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "extreme",
          "extreme"
        ],
        [
          "poverty",
          "poverty"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) In a condition of extreme poverty."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "not-comparable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-dirt-poor.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/2c/En-au-dirt-poor.ogg/En-au-dirt-poor.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/En-au-dirt-poor.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "af",
      "lang": "Afrikaans",
      "sense": "very poor",
      "word": "brandarm"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "very poor",
      "word": "straatarm"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "very poor",
      "word": "rutiköyhä"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "very poor",
      "word": "bettelarm"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "sense": "very poor",
      "word": "bláfátækur"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "very poor",
      "word": "beo bocht"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "very poor",
      "word": "przeubogi"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "very poor",
      "word": "paupérrimo"
    }
  ],
  "word": "dirt-poor"
}

Download raw JSONL data for dirt-poor meaning in English (2.6kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-03-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-03-21 using wiktextract (fef8596 and 633533e). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.