poormouth

See also: poor-mouth and poor mouth

English

Alternative forms

• poor-mouth, poor mouth

Etymology

From poor +‎ mouth.

Verb

poormouth (third-person singular simple present poormouths, present participle poormouthing, simple past and past participle poormouthed)

1. (transitive, intransitive, informal) To claim to be poor.
   • 1970 June 8, Tom Wolfe, “Radical Chic: That Party at Lenny's”, in New York Magazine‎^[1]:

     On the other hand one does not want to arrive “poor-mouthing it” in some outrageous turtleneck and West Eighth Street bell-jean combination, as if one is “funky” and of “the people.”

Translations

claim to be poor

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 哭窮／哭穷 (zh) (kūqióng)

• Finnish: väittää olevansa köyhä
• Irish: béal bocht a dhéanamh (literally “to make a poor mouth”)
• Russian: прибедняться (ru) impf (pribednjatʹsja)

See also

• cap in hand

Further reading

• “poor mouth”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.