poor as a church mouse
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
‘ I hope there's a fat cheque in the posh otherwise I shall be as poor as a church mouse.
The vicar who seemed as poor as a church mouse gave no clue to his wealth as he chatted happily to convicted robbers.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Simile (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “poor as a church mouse” mean?
Extrememly poor.
Is “poor as a church mouse” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.