poor as a church mouse
1
7.6
- idiom
- Informal
:
pobre como una iglesia
- Since the business failed, she's been as poor as a church mouse and relies on her friends for help.
Examples
-
Uh, unfortunately, he's as poor as a church mouse.
-
I'm sorry to tell you this, my dear, but Mr. Pollock is as poor as a church mouse.
-
I know he must've been a gentleman sometime or other... - but he's as poor as a church mouse now.
-
After losing his job, he was as poor as a church mouse and struggled to pay the bills.
-
When the economy crashed, many families in town became as poor as a church mouse, unable to afford basic necessities.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Having little money or possessions
237
1.8
Having no money
50
6.2
People or places that have very little money and few things they need
24
4.3
Having no money
22
8.7
Very poor and without enough money for basic needs
21
3.9
Not having basic things like enough food, a safe home, or clean water
20
6.5
Very poor and without basic things like food or a home
9
5.1
Very poor and needing help to live
3
7.9
Very poor and without money, a job, or a home
2
9.9
Very poor and having almost no money
1
8.6
Having no money at all
1
9.9
Having little or no money
1
9.3
With no money at all
1
9.9
Very poor and unable to pay for basic needs
Having no money to pay for things
Very poor with no money at all
A person who has little money and cannot buy basic things
Very poor and only able to pay for basic needs like food
Very poor and living with almost no money
Not having much money or valuable things
Having almost no money or things
Antonyms
How Poor
Surface Forms
Morphology
poor + as + a + church + mouse
The adjective 'poor' and the comparative marker 'as' make clear the phrase relates to poverty, so a learner who knows the words will likely recognize it describes being poor. However, the conventional image 'church mouse' (connoting extreme lack of possessions) depends on cultural/idiomatic knowledge and is not fully predictable from the literal constituents. Because the simile's intensifying meaning is partly inferable but rests on an idiomatic image that some learners may not know, the expression is best classified as semi-transparent.
Etymology
The saying poor as a church mouse may come from the image of a mouse living in a church, a place with little food so the mouse looked thin and hungry. That's why the phrase means 'extremely poor' or having very little money.