When we think of the poor, it is important to remember that our minds are formed by our language. Much of our ideas of what the poor are like, or why they are in the situation they find themselves, has less to do with the actual people but more the heavy-weight of language and implication. I think the negative implications associated with the poor are found here in our synonyms. These are words, that over time in the English language, have been used interchangeably with poor.
As I was researching this, I found myself again and again shocked by the misconceptions that the poor face in our culture. Synonyms for the poor include the idea of a bum, crook and corruption, defect and deficient, disease, evil, sin, dull, impotent, unwashed, wickedness, unpleasant, trash, rubbish, stupidity, pushover, and loser. In my interactions with the “poor,” I can attest that they are no more or less those than any other segment of society.
Here at Joe’s Addiction, we look at each individual, looking past the pain to do our best to see all their potential and beauty. We may not be able to change their financial situation, but we can see beyond the label society places on them, to the true person within. Each human individual is created with infinite value in and of themselves. As a society, we should not measure the value of a person nor their moral character by their ability to make money.
I found this list to be a cause for reflection and repentance. Assumptions that I didn’t even know I had, and some that were just below the surface, had to be examined and then replaced with a clear picture of a beautiful human.
I think the healthiest synonyms were those that did not assign value or morality to a human, but simply described their situation. It is my hope that as we examine our own language, ideas that reduce the value of a human, do to a disability or lack of finances like this might be adjusted so we can become a society of mutual respect and honor.
So here is a list of 281 synonyms for the poor. I hope you find freedom from prejudice and misconceptions that our language implanted in us, and are able to break free to see the individuals that struggle next door to you and me in every city of our world.
alleviation
amount
anguish
at-risk-of-poverty
baby
bad
bad luck
baddies
baja
bankrupt
bare
bareness
base
bass
bassline
beggar
bit
blackguard
blew
blue
boom
boring
bourgeoisie
boyfriend
branch
broke
bum
bummer
casualisation
casualization
child
citizens
coarse
common
commonality
commonalty
commoner
commons
community
corruption
crook
crowd
crush
crying shame
curse
dale
damage
dearth
debilitated
debility
decline
defect
defenselessness
deficiency
deficient
deficit
degradation
degree
denial
depletion
depravity
depressed
deprivation
deprived
destitute
destitution
detriment
difficulty
disadvantage
disadvantaged
disappointment
disapproval
disease
disgrace
disgusting
disservice
distress
dregs
drop
dull
embarrassment
evil
exiguity
exiguous
exposure
failing
failure
faint
faintness
feebleness
few
flaw
foible
fragility
frailty
fraud
frustration
gap
good
grief
grievance
grieving
grifter
hack
hardship
harm
have-nots
heartache
heartbreak
hell
helplessness
hostel
humble
hurt
hurting
impairment
impotence
impotence
impoverished
impoverishment
inability
inadequacy
incompetent
indent
indigence
indigent
ineptitude
infant
inferior
infirmity
injury
insecurity
insolvency
instability
institution
insufficiency
junior
lack
lad
less
level
little
loser
loss
lover
low
low class
lower
lowly
mala
malabsorption
meager
mean
mediocre
mediocrity
minor
minute
mischief
misconception
misery
misfortune
miss
moment
moment
nakedness
needy
nonsense
nude
nudity
on uppers
ordinary
outdoors
pain
paltry
paragraph
paucity
pauper
pauperism
pauperization
peasant
penchant
penury
person
pity
plight
poor man
poor people
poorer
populace
poverty
poverty-stricken
powerlessness
precariousness
precarity
privation
proletarian
proletariat
puny
pushover
quality
qualmish
quantity
quick
quick
rabble
regret
remorse
retardation
riff-raff
riffraff
river
rough
rubbish
sad
sanctuary
scarcity
sentence
shame
sheep
short
shortage
shortcoming
shortfall
sick
sickness
simple
sin
size
skinny
slender
slight
slight
small
smallness
sorrow
sorry
sparseness
starvation
starveling
starving
stupidity
subparagraph
suffering
sympathy
sympathy
syncope
thing
thing
time
time
trash
uncertainty
underfinancing
underperformance
underprivilege
underprivileged
undersupply
undress
unhappiness
unhappy
unlucky person
unpleasant
unwashed
upper
upset
useless
vile
villain
volume
vulnerability
want
weakening
weakling
weakness
whitish
wickedness
woe
wretch
young
young
youngster