penniless

CEFRB2

/ˈpɛ.nɪ.ləs/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Having no money.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Of a country's system of money, abstaining from the use of penny coins, despite having fully decimalized currency, by means of rounding of cash transactions (but not necessarily of cashless ones).

Examples

  • For one thing, I'm penniless; for another, I don't have the time.

  • The failure in business left me penniless.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
3
Parts of speech
1
Citations
2
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meaning

  1. Lacking even the smallest amount of money.

More examples

In context

  • When his business failed, he was left penniless.

  • Canada became a penniless country in 2013 simply by rounding its cash transactions to the nearest nickel but otherwise not changing anything.

  • In societies without national insurance of any kind, almshouses are the last refuge of penniless people.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

After losing his job and spending all his savings, he found himself completely blank and homeless.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

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