poor relation

English

Noun

poor relation (plural poor relations)

1. Something neglected or seen as inferior.
   • 1999, Stephen Wilks, Great Britain. Monopolies, Mergers Commission, In the public interest:

     Competition policy was the poor relation of industrial policy. By the 1990s the position was reversed. Industrial policy was passe, competition policy was central to the economic policy debate.

   • 2007, Larry Devlin, Chief of station, Congo: a memoir of 1960-67, page 33:

     In the State Department, Africa was the poor relation, handled as a subsidiary of the Middle East Bureau.

   • 2024 April 3, Howard Johnston, “TfL is overflowing with ideas... but is short of the capital”, in RAIL, number 1006, page 31:

     The Bakerloo Line, the poor relation of the London Underground, has become a huge talking point in terms of both its immediate and medium-term future.

Translations

Translations

• Dutch: stiefkind (nl) n, stiefkindje (nl) n
• Finnish: köyhä sukulainen
• French: parent pauvre (fr) m
• Greek: φτωχός συγγενής m (ftochós syngenís)
• Italian: parente povero m
• Polish: ubogi krewny (pl) m
• Russian: бе́дный ро́дственник (ru) m (bédnyj ródstvennik)

Further reading

• “poor relation”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “poor relation” (US) / “poor relation” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.
• “poor relation” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.
• “poor relation”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.