poor relation

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.

Bayswater was long considered the poor relation of its ultradesirable London neighbors Notting Hill and Marylebone, but new development is driving up home prices in the area.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

According to the paper, citizenship is the "poor relation in the Northern Ireland Curriculum."

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2022

Diagnostics has been the poor relation to drugs and vaccines for years, as governments are now realising to their cost.

From The Guardian • May 1, 2020

His poor relation had always been an anomaly in the ranks of SPI employees, old among the young, emaciated among the luscious, a lonely figure, permanently out of step, everyone’s crazy grandpa.

From The New Yorker • Jul. 22, 2019

But how had she avoided being a poor relation?

From Poor Relations by MacKenzie, Compton