Poor as Job
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
The allusion is to Job being deprived by Satan of everything he possessed.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Poor as Job” mean?
The allusion is to Job being deprived by Satan of everything he possessed.
Is “Poor as Job” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.