penniless
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English penyles, penylees; equivalent to penny + -less. Compare Old Norse penningalauss (“penniless”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈpɛ.nɪ.ləs/
Adjective
penniless (not comparable)
- 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.
Derived terms
Translations
utterly without money
|
See also
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.