dirt-poor
adjEtymology An inversion of the earlier poor as dirt (compare whip-smart or smart as a whip).
1
Idiomatic In a condition of extreme poverty.
- In recent months, the dirt-poor peasants of Honduras have invaded farms and blockaded bridges to force the government to fulfill its promises.1975 August 18, “Religion: Blood and Land”, in Time:
- A few years ago it was a dirt-poor outpost populated by rural migrants.2007 August 4, “A critical election for ‘the best dressed man in Turkey’”, in The Week, 625, 16: