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Poor vs Incompetent - What's the difference?

poor | incompetent |

Incompetent is a synonym of poor.



As adjectives the difference between poor and incompetent

is that poor is with little or no possessions or money while incompetent is unskilled, lacking normally expected degree of ability.

As nouns the difference between poor and incompetent

is that poor is with "the" Those who have little or no possessions or money, taken as a group while incompetent is a person who is incompetent.

poor

English

Adjective

(er)
  • With little or no possessions or money.
  • :
  • Of low quality.
  • :
  • *, chapter=10
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=He looked round the poor room, at the distempered walls, and the bad engravings in meretricious frames, the crinkly paper and wax flowers on the chiffonier; and he thought of a room like Father Bryan's, with panelling, with cut glass, with tulips in silver pots, such a room as he had hoped to have for his own.}}
  • To be pitied.
  • :
  • *
  • *: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.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=15 citation , passage=Mr. Campion sighed. β€˜Poor man,’ he said. β€˜He sees his great sacrifices rejected by the gods, and so, no doubt, all the Misses Eumenides let loose again to plague him.’}}
  • Deficient in a specified way.
  • :
  • Inadequate, insufficient.
  • :
  • *(w) (1600-1666)
  • *:That I have wronged no man will be a poor plea or apology at the last day.
  • Free from self-assertion; not proud or arrogant; meek.
  • *(Bible), (w) v.3
  • *:Blessed are the poor in spirit.
  • Synonyms

    * (little or no possessions) impoverished, wealthless, * (of low quality) inferior * (to be pitied) pitiable, * See also * See also

    Antonyms

    * (having little or no possessions) rich * (of low quality) good * (deficient in a specified way) rich * (inadequate) adequate

    Derived terms

    * poor man's * dirt poor * house poor * land poor * piss-poor * poor as a church mouse * poor box * poorhouse * poor power * poor relation

    Noun

    (en-plural noun)
  • (with "the") Those who have little or no possessions or money, taken as a group.
  • The poor are always with us.

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * 1000 English basic words ----

    incompetent

    English

    Adjective

    (head)
  • Unskilled, lacking normally expected degree of ability.
  • Having an incompetent lawyer may be grounds for a retrial, but the lawyer in question probably doesn't know that.
  • Unable to make rational decisions, insane or otherwise cognitively impaired.
  • The charged was judged incompetent to stand trial, at least until his medication started working.

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Usage notes

    The form incompetent of , as in "I am incompetent of doing anything!" is heard (US). It is incorrect, the intended word is incapable.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A person who is incompetent.