broke

C2+ Topic:Time

US /broʊk/ UK /brəʊk/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like bloke /l/ vs /r/

adj verb

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

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

Time

# broke

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj, verb
**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
- Time

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broke

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