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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

broker than the Ten Commandments en · ADJ

Pronunciation

Etymology

A pun on the sense of broke 'without money' and broken, with potential reference both to Moses' destruction ('breaking') of the tablets on Mount Sinai (Exodus 32:19) and sinners' violation ('breaking') of the Ten Commandments in daily life.

Meanings

  1. (comparative-only, dated, humorous, qualifier:simile) Extremely impoverished.
    • I needed money—Dad would have said I was broker than the Ten Commandments—so I went to get my old job back... 2018, Tara Westover, Educated:

Synonyms

impoverished

wikipedia: Mount Sinai · wikipedia: Ten Commandments · wikipedia: Moses