English Explanatory Dictionary

poor as a church mouse

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Very poor, to the point of starving or begging; utterly destitute.

Pronunciation

En-au-poor as a church mouse.ogg

Word forms

poor as a church mouse

Etymology

Alteration of earlier hungry as a church mouse, from the fact that Catholic and Orthodox priests are called to scrupulously prevent any crumb of the sacrament of Eucharist (the bread which is understood to be Christ's body) from falling on the altar or to the ground, meaning that church mice had no crumbs to feed on. This phrase seems to be a corruption of the even earlier expression “as quiet as a church mouse” from the 1300s.

Synonyms

poor as a rat poor as Job almsless arm badly off bankrupt beggared beggarly boracic broke broken broker than the Ten Commandments depauperate destitute dirt poor disadvantaged down and out down at heel down on one's luck down on one's uppers empty-handed feeling the pinch flat goodless hard up impecunious impoverished in need indigent insolvent lower-class necessitous needy oofless pauperized penniless penurious pinched pok kai poor poor as a church mouse possessionless poverty-ridden poverty-stricken shillingless skint stone-broke stony-broke strapped stuck threadbare unwealthy wealthless

Related words

quiet as a church mouse
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