penniless en · ADJ
Pronunciation
Etymology
From Middle English penyles, penylees; equivalent to penny + -less. Compare Old Norse penningalauss (“penniless”).
Meanings
-
(figuratively, not-comparable) Lacking even the smallest amount of money.
This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer.
1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:A dollar and a quarter seems a small sum, but if you are absolutely penniless it might as well be a thousand.
1889, Horatio Alger, chapter 10, in Driven From Home:In a functioning digital economy, being cashless is far different from being penniless, because cash is merely one form of money; but some preppers hoard gold in case the system gets destroyed and cashlessness suddenly becomes pennilessness.
In societies without national insurance of any kind, almshouses are the last refuge of penniless people.
-
(not-comparable) 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.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| pennyless | alternative | lexicographic |
Deriveds
pennilessly · penniless-bench · pennilessness
Synonyms
destitute · penniless · dirt poor · wealthless · poor as a church mouse · stone-broke · poor as Job · down on one's uppers · badly off · poverty-ridden · broken · boracic · skint · moneyless · almsless · beggared · stony-broke · empty-handed · strapped · poverty-stricken · groatless · destitute · nillionaire · lower-class · indigent · stuck · feeling the pinch · pinched · moneyless · flat · broke · down at heel · unwealthy · pauperized · broker than the Ten Commandments · oofless · needy · in need · depauperate · farthingless · impecunious · beggarly · arm · poor · penurious · farthingless · insolvent · disadvantaged · down and out · threadbare · poor as a rat · goodless · possessionless · down on one's luck · necessitous · impoverished · bankrupt · hard up · shillingless · pok kai
Translations (43)
hi निकौड़िया (utterly without money) · nb pengelens (utterly without money) · ru без копе́йки (utterly without money) · fr sans le sou (utterly without money) · cmn 一文不名 (utterly without money) · ar فقير (utterly without money) · ru безде́нежный (utterly without money) · cmn 不名一文 (utterly without money) · cmn 身無分文 /身无分文 (utterly without money) · uk безгрошови́й (utterly without money) · it scannato (utterly without money) · cmn 一貧如洗 /一贫如洗 (utterly without money) · vo nenpänidik (utterly without money) · bn কপর্দকশূন্য (utterly without money) · eo senmona (utterly without money) · pl bez grosza przy duszy (utterly without money) · ru без гроша́ (utterly without money) · de ohne einen Pfennig (utterly without money) · hu nincstelen (utterly without money) · uk без гро́шей (utterly without money) · el απένταρος (utterly without money) · ja 文無し (utterly without money) · cmn 囊空如洗 (utterly without money) · de ohne Geld (utterly without money) · pt paupérrimo (utterly without money) · de mittellos (utterly without money) · br didra (utterly without money) · id melarat (utterly without money) · ru на мели́ (utterly without money) · af pennieloos (utterly without money) · ms fakir (utterly without money) · bn নিকড়িয়া (utterly without money) · es miserable (utterly without money) · ko 무일푼인 (utterly without money) · ja 一文無し (utterly without money) · it spiantato (utterly without money) · ja 無一文 (utterly without money) · fi pennitön (utterly without money) · vo nenmonik (utterly without money) · id fakir (utterly without money) · bg безпаричен (utterly without money) · mk нема скршен денар (utterly without money) · it squattrinato (utterly without money)