penniless

adjective

pen·​ni·​less ˈpe-ni-ləs 

: destitute of money

Synonyms

• beggared
• beggarly
• broke
• destitute
• dirt-poor
• down-and-out
• famished
• hard up
• impecunious
• impoverished
• indigent
• necessitous
• needful
• needy
• pauperized
• penurious
• poor
• poverty-stricken
• skint [chiefly British]
• threadbare

Examples of penniless in a Sentence

She was unemployed and penniless.

went from being a penniless girl to owner of her own restaurant

Recent Examples on the Web

Last December, New York City, Chicago and Denver pleaded for federal assistance to help house tens of thousands of migrants who had arrived penniless after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, bused them there from the border. —Lauren Villagran, USA TODAY, 9 Nov. 2024

Along with invisible, the assistant can also be penniless, powerless and a vulnerable target. —Victoria Bekiempis, Vulture, 6 Sep. 2024

This time, inspiration came from English writer H.G. Wells, whose sci-fi novel The Invisible Man — about a penniless researcher whose experiments in invisibility unlock a sadistic side to his personality — has become one of the all-time genre greats. —Katie Rife, EW.com, 18 Oct. 2024

Venezuela’s generals would rather stay penniless but in power than step down and end up imprisoned. —Laura Gamboa Gutiérrez, Foreign Affairs, 30 May 2019

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

penniless

adjective

pen·​ni·​less ˈpen-i-ləs 

ˈpen-ᵊl-əs

: having no money : very poor