poor mouth
noun
,
Informal.
1.
a person who continually complains about a lack of money.
2.
a plea or complaint of poverty, often as an excuse for not contributing to charities, paying bills, etc.
Idioms
3.
cry poor mouth,
to complain, especially habitually, about a lack of money.
Also,
talk a poor mouth
.
Origin
1815-25
poor-mouth
[
p
oo
r
-mouth]
/ˈpʊərˌmaʊθ/
verb (used without object)
,
poor-mouthed
[
p
oo
r
-moutht, -mou
th
d]
/ˈpʊərˌmaʊθt, -ˌmaʊðd/
(
Show IPA
),
poor-mouthing.
1.
to lament or argue that one is too poor; plead poverty.
verb (used with object)
,
poor-mouthed
[
p
oo
r
-moutht, -mou
th
d]
/ˈpʊərˌmaʊθt, -ˌmaʊðd/
(
Show IPA
),
poor-mouthing.
2.
to declare (one's ability, power, position, etc.) to be inadequate or disappointing, sometimes as an intentional understatement; downplay:
We know you're just poor-mouthing your skill at playing bridge—you're a good player.
3.
bad-mouth
.
Origin
1965-70;
Americanism; orig. in verb phrases
put up a poor mouth, make a poor mouth
British Dictionary definitions for
poor-mouth
poor mouth
noun
1.
unjustified complaining, esp to excite sympathy:
she always has the poor mouth
verb
(
transitive
)
2.
(
informal
) to speak of disparagingly; decry
Slang definitions & phrases for
poor-mouth
poor-mouth
verb
To deny one's wealth and advantages; emphasize one's deficiencies; Talk Poor Mouth
: Richard Nixon often poor-mouthed his chances
(1965+)
To deprecate severely;
bad-mouth
: I'm not going around poor-mouthing the war
(1967+)
[make a poor mouth, ''to whine, make the worst of things,'' is found as Scots dialect by 1822]