dirt poor
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“We were dirt poor, had big Scottish accents at the time, a family of six siblings, and then coming to very conventional suburban schools,” he said, the memory eliciting a wild-card smile.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026
“We were dirt poor so I couldn’t afford to go to the movies often,” he told the AP in 1998.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 30, 2023
He had grown up dirt poor in what is now South Korea, then occupied by Japan.
From Science Magazine • May 3, 2023
She says she grew up dirt poor on a pig farm in Alabama, but rose to be the first in her family to complete college, and she served in the armed forces reserves.
From Slate • May 15, 2022
She and Glen were dirt poor, but Marsha had always compensated for the things she couldn’t give her kids by giving them all of her heart.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
