penniless
/ˈpɛ.nɪ.ləs/ adjective
Forms pennyless
- adjective (figuratively) Lacking even the smallest amount of money. “In societies without national insurance of any kind, almshouses are the last refuge of penniless people.”
- adjective (numismatics, banking) Of a country's system of money, abstaining from the use of penny coins, despite having fully decimalized currency, by means of rounding of cash transactions (but not necessarily of cashless ones). “Canada became a penniless country in 2013 simply by rounding its cash transactions to the nearest nickel but otherwise not changing anything.”
Synonyms
farthingless moneyless destitute nillionaire almsless arm badly off bankrupt beggared beggarly boracic broke broken broker than the Ten Commandments depauperate dirt poor disadvantaged down and out down at heel down on one's luck hard up impecunious in straitened circumstances penurious pinched
Etymology
From Middle English penyles, penylees; equivalent to penny + -less. Compare Old Norse penningalauss (“penniless”).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Destitute of money; impecunious; poor.
Etymology [From Penny.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “penniless”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details