poor mouth
noun
a person who continually complains about a lack of money.
Jump To:
-
poor mouth
-
poor-mouth
poor-mouthverb (used without object)to lament or argue that one is too poor; plead poverty.
poor mouth
1 American
[poor mohth]
/ ˈpʊər ˌmoʊθ /
noun
Informal.
-
a person who continually complains about a lack of money.
-
a plea or complaint of poverty, often as an excuse for not contributing to charities, paying bills, etc.
idioms
poor-mouth
2
American
[poor-mauth]
/ ˈpʊərˌmaʊθ /
verb (used without object)
poor-mouthed,
poor-mouthing
verb (used with object)
poor-mouthed,
poor-mouthing
-
to declare (one's ability, power, position, etc.) to be inadequate or disappointing, sometimes as an intentional understatement; downplay.
We know you're just poor-mouthing your skill at playing bridge—you're a good player.
poor mouth
British
noun
verb
Etymology
Origin of poor mouth1
First recorded in 1815–25
Origin of poor-mouth2
1965–70; originally in verb phrases put up a poor mouth, make a poor mouth
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
We are not going to cry the poor mouth, other than to say the reality of this challenge is too much.
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2011
But what is making Mancini put on the poor mouth?
From The Guardian ● Sep. 24, 2010
“Making a poor mouth about his misfortunes, I suppose?” intimated the ventriloquist.
From The Motion Picture Chums at Seaside Park The Rival Photo Theatres of the Boardwalk by Victor [pseud.] Appleton
And of course, he had the usual poor mouth.
From Duty, and other Irish Comedies by Seumas O'Brien
Poor eyes, poor mouth, poor face, poor maiden!
From Desperate Remedies by Thomas Hardy
The city can’t cry poor-mouth, pleading a lack of money as a defense for allowing this outrageous condition to exist.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 4, 2019
He’d have to make a call, poor-mouth into the phone until his father’s wallet spit out more bills.
From The New Yorker ● May 13, 2013
On other the hand, in a contentious divorce, the goal is typically to poor-mouth your personal balance sheet as much as possible.
From New York Times ● Jan. 23, 2010
Farmers have been known to poor-mouth it in the past.
From Time Magazine Archive
Cushing could count on the piddling $1,000,000 voted by the state, but even in his most poor-mouth moment, he never envisioned that the games could be staged for less than $2,000,000.
From Time Magazine Archive
Manfred has poor-mouthed the experience of team ownership, asserting that most owners could have done better by investing in the stock market.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2022
He gave Katherine Heigl time to describe getting snubbed at a restaurant by her “Knocked Up” co-star Seth Rogen because she had poor-mouthed the movie in a Vanity Fair interview.
From New York Times ● Jul. 27, 2016
He poor-mouthed to reporters that Brother Martin was bigger than Louisiana State and Tulane.
From New York Times ● Nov. 24, 2012
By and large, the fellows who coach college crew are about as poor-mouthed as the coaches in any other sport.
From Time Magazine Archive
The sharks and other large fishes, which have appeared in the Silurian, easily displace these clumsy and poor-mouthed competitors One almost thinks of the aeroplane superseding the navigable balloon.
From The Story of Evolution by Joseph McCabe
Any poor-mouthing attempts by MLB were preempted last week by the release of the Atlanta Braves’ financial statements, revealing a $104 million profit in 2021.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 1, 2022
Consumer advocates naturally are skeptical of the utilities' poor-mouthing.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2018
Learning that one of Wallace's aides was poor-mouthing his chances of becoming President, she braced the man, threatened to get him fired if he expressed such a sentiment again.
From Time Magazine Archive
"If somebody comes out with something that shows me way out front, I'll be poor-mouthing it," he said in an outburst of candor aboard his chartered jet.
From Time Magazine Archive
Nor did the fans feel very sorry for the owners, who, despite their poor-mouthing, toss about millions of dollars, largely, it sometimes seems, for the privilege of hanging about their employees' locker room.
From Time Magazine Archive
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
