pennilessness en · NOUN
Etymology
Etymology tree English penniless Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English pennilessness From penniless + -ness.
Meanings
- (uncountable) The state or quality of being penniless.
-
(uncountable) The state or quality of being penniless. ▸ Synonym of destitution (“extreme poverty”).
I was thinking earlier that to know this city you must first become penniless, because pennilessness (real pennilessness, I mean not having $2 for the subway) forces you to walk everywhere and you see the city best on foot.
2014, Emily St. John Mandel, Station Eleven, Picador (2022), page 156:
Synonyms
straitened circumstances · reduced circumstances · moneylessness · impecuniosity · mendicity · brokeness · neediness · brokeness · destitution · beggary · penury · pauperism · destitution · impecuniousness · mendicancy · privation · poverty · misery · indigence
Translations (7)
fi rahattomuus (being penniless) · pl bycie bez grosza przy duszy (being penniless) · hu pénztelenség (being penniless) · id kemelaratan (being penniless) · kn ಅಕಿಂಚನ್ಯ (being penniless) · ru безде́нежье (being penniless) · el αδεκαρία (being penniless)