貧しい【まずしい】 poor 貧乏【びんぼう】な poor What's the difference?


Example sentences do not suggest a big difference. Is there?

貧しい【まずしい】 poor  
貧乏【びんぼう】な poor

> [貧乏]{びんぼう}だけれど[彼]{かれ}は[幸福]{こうふく}だ。  
>  Poor as he is, he is happy.
>
> [貧]{まず}しいといえども[彼女]{かのじょ}は[幸]{しあわ}せだ。  
>  Though she is poor, she is happy.




貧乏 is a [Sino-Japanese word](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-
Japanese_vocabulary) (kango), and it only refers to _financial_ poorness. It's
an easy word, but it can sound somewhat direct and rude. In formal or academic
contexts, 貧困 ("poverty") is mainly used.

貧しい is a native Japanese word (wago), and it can refer to not only financial
poorness but also various kinds of poorness. For example you can say 心が貧しい人
("narrow-minded person"), 資源の貧しい国 ("resource-poor country"), 想像力が貧しい人 ("person
who lacks imagination skill") and so on. It's also a milder and safer word
when you need to say someone is financially poor. 彼は貧乏な家庭で育った and 彼は貧しい家庭で育った
are semantically the same, but the latter sounds "nicer" to me.

In general, Sino-Japanese words tend to have explicit, narrow or scientific
meanings, whereas native Japanese words tend to have some derivative,
idiomatic or figurative usages.

  * 血液 (kango for "blood") only refers to that red liquid. 血 (wago for "blood") also refers to "bloodline", "lineage", "human nature", etc.
  * 沸騰 (kango for "boil") only refers to physical boiling, whereas 沸く can also mean "to get hot enough" and "to get excited".




貧乏 is a [Sino-Japanese word](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-
Japanese_vocabulary) (kango), and it only refers to _financial_ poorness. It's
an easy word, but it can sound somewhat direct and rude. In formal or academic
contexts, 貧困 ("poverty") is mainly used.

貧しい is a native Japanese word (wago), and it can refer to not only financial
poorness but also various kinds of poorness. For example you can say 心が貧しい人
("narrow-minded person"), 資源の貧しい国 ("resource-poor country"), 想像力が貧しい人 ("person
who lacks imagination skill") and so on. It's also a milder and safer word
when you need to say someone is financially poor. 彼は貧乏な家庭で育った and 彼は貧しい家庭で育った
are semantically the same, but the latter sounds "nicer" to me.

In general, Sino-Japanese words tend to have explicit, narrow or scientific
meanings, whereas native Japanese words tend to have some derivative,
idiomatic or figurative usages.

  * 血液 (kango for "blood") only refers to that red liquid. 血 (wago for "blood") also refers to "bloodline", "lineage", "human nature", etc.
  * 沸騰 (kango for "boil") only refers to physical boiling, whereas 沸く can also mean "to get hot enough" and "to get excited".

