poor white

American

noun

Usually Disparaging and Offensive.

a member of a class of white people, especially of the southern U.S., having low social status and little or no money, property, or education.

poor White British

noun

offensive
1. a poverty-stricken and underprivileged White person, esp in the southern US and South Africa
2. ( as modifier )
  
  poor White trash

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of poor white

An Americanism dating back to 1810–20

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.

In American society, it has been a constant rule that the policy makers and other elites who are hurting working-class and poor white people are hurting working-class and poor Black people too.

From Salon

“It’s poor white voters. It’s people in small towns that don’t have much health care infrastructure…We’re going to see problems throughout the system that we haven’t experienced nearly as much in the last 60 years.”

From Salon

Organizer Ross Morales Rocketto discussed how many working-class and poor white men found the GOP candidate’s restoring masculinity approach appealing.

From Salon

Fundamental changes to the Constitution were necessary to entrench in our national charter the principle that “a true republic rests on the absolute equality of rights of the whole people, high and low, rich and poor, white and black.”

From Slate

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023