penniless
adjectiveattested in dialogue
- //ˈpɛ.nɪ.ləs//
Lacking even the smallest amount of money.
adjective
- 1
figurativeLacking even the smallest amount of money.
In societies without national insurance of any kind, almshouses are the last refuge of penniless people.
In a functioning digital economy, being cashless is far different from being penniless, because cash is merely one form of money; but some preppers hoard gold in case the system gets destroyed and cashlessness suddenly becomes pennilessness.
A dollar and a quarter seems a small sum, but if you are absolutely penniless it might as well be a thousand.
This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer.
- 2
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).
Canada became a penniless country in 2013 simply by rounding its cash transactions to the nearest nickel but otherwise not changing anything.
Etymology
From Middle English penyles, penylees; equivalent to penny + -less. Compare Old Norse penningalauss (“penniless”).
penniless · Lacking even the smallest amount of money.
Pennsylvania · A state of the United States. Capital: Harrisburg. Largest…penny · In the United Kingdom, a unit of currency worth ¹⁄₁₀₀ of a…Penny · A diminutive of the female given name Penelope.