penniless

• pennyless

From Middle English penyles, penylees; equivalent to penny +‎ -less. Compare Old Norse penningalauss (“penniless”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɛ.nɪ.ləs/

penniless (not comparable)

1. Lacking even the smallest amount of money.

   Synonym: farthingless

   • 1889, Horatio Alger, chapter 10, in Driven From Home:

     A dollar and a quarter seems a small sum, but if you are absolutely penniless it might as well be a thousand.

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     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.

• Thesaurus:impoverished