broke

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /broʊk/ UK /brəʊk/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like bloke /l/ vs /r/

Meanings

1

adj
having no money; (verb) past tense of break

By the end of the month he was completely broke.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · having no money; (verb)... penniless bankrupt insolvent destitute impoverishedskint

Opposites

rich wealthy affluent solvent

Word family

Related forms break broken breakage

Appears in

Idioms (3)

See all

Proverbs (5)

See all

Etymology

From break (Old English brecan), originally the past participle (now broken); the adjectival sense 'having no money' is a 18th-century survival of the older participle, from a 'broken' financial state.

brecan Old English *brekaną Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# broke

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /broʊk/
**IPA (UK):** /brəʊk/

## Meanings
1. having no money; (verb) past tense of break

## Examples
- By the end of the month he was completely broke.

## Synonyms
- penniless
- bankrupt
- insolvent
- destitute
- impoverished
- skint

## Antonyms
- rich
- wealthy
- affluent
- solvent

## Related Forms
- break
- broken
- breakage

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: brecan
- Root: *brekaną

## Etymology
From break (Old English brecan), originally the past participle (now broken); the adjectival sense 'having no money' is a 18th-century survival of the older participle, from a 'broken' financial state.

## AI Etymology
Broke is from break (Old English brecan), originally the past participle (now broken); the adjectival sense 'having no money' is a 18th-century survival of the older participle, from a 'broken' financial state. In present-day use, it means having no money; (verb) past tense of break. Related vocabulary includes break, broken, and breakage.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

markdown