What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Poor vs Rough - What's the difference?

poor | rough |

As adjectives the difference between poor and rough

is that poor is with little or no possessions or money while rough is having a texture that has much friction not smooth; uneven.

As nouns the difference between poor and rough

is that poor is (with "the") those who have little or no possessions or money, taken as a group while rough is the unmowed part of a golf course.

As a verb rough is

to create in an approximate form.

As an adverb rough is

in a rough manner; rudely; roughly.

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. ‘Poor man,’ he said. ‘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

    Related terms

    * (l) * (l) * (l) * (l) * (l)

    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 ----

    rough

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (colloquial) ruff

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Having a texture that has much friction. Not smooth; uneven.
  • * 1922 , (Virginia Woolf), (w, Jacob's Room) Chapter 1
    • The rock was one of those tremendously solid brown, or rather black, rocks which emerge from the sand like something primitive. Rough with crinkled limpet shells and sparsely strewn with locks of dry seaweed, a small boy has to stretch his legs far apart, and indeed to feel rather heroic, before he gets to the top.
  • Approximate; hasty or careless; not finished.
    • a rough''' estimate; a '''rough sketch of a building
  • Turbulent.
    • The sea was rough .
  • Difficult; trying.
    • Being a teenager nowadays can be rough .
  • Crude; unrefined
    • His manners are a bit rough , but he means well.
  • Violent; not careful or subtle
    • This box has been through some rough handling.
  • Loud and hoarse; offensive to the ear; harsh; grating.
    • a rough''' tone; a '''rough voice
    (Alexander Pope)
  • Not polished; uncut; said of a gem.
    • a rough diamond
  • Harsh-tasting.
    • rough wine

    Antonyms

    * smooth

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The unmowed part of a golf course.
  • A rude fellow; a coarse bully; a rowdy.
  • (cricket) A scuffed and roughened area of the pitch, where the bowler's feet fall, used as a target by spin bowlers because of its unpredictable bounce.
  • The raw material from which faceted or cabochon gems are created.
  • A quick sketch, similar to a thumbnail, but larger and more detailed. Meant for artistic brainstorming and a vital step in the design process.
  • (obsolete) Boisterous weather.
    • (Fletcher)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To create in an approximate form.
    • Rough in the shape first, then polish the details.
  • To physically assault someone in retribution.
    • The gangsters roughed him up a little.
  • (ice hockey) To commit the offense of roughing, i.e. to punch another player.
  • To render rough; to roughen.
  • To break in (a horse, etc.), especially for military purposes.
    • (Crabb)

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • In a rough manner; rudely; roughly.
  • * Sir Walter Scott
    • Sleeping rough on the trenches, and dying stubbornly in their boats.

    Derived terms

    * bit of rough * diamond in the rough * rough and ready * roughhouse * rough in * roughness * rough out * rough up