penniless

B1 Topic:Money & Finance
US /ˈpɛ.nɪ.ləs/
adj Freq #15888

Meanings

  1. 1
    adj

    Having no money at all; very poor.

    He arrived in the city penniless and looking for work.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 adj · having no money at all;... brokebankruptbeggared
Word family
Derived forms penniless-benchpennilesslypennilessness

Etymology

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

View etymology graph ->

Topics

markdown

Send feedback

Optional — only if you'd like a reply.