penniless
Lacking even the smallest amount of moneyLacking even the smallest amount of money.
» I was penniless.
У меня не было ни копейки.
У меня не было ни гроша.
Я була без копійки у кишені.
Я був без копійки у кишені.
Meaning
2 senses(figuratively, not comparable)Lacking even the smallest amount of money.
In societies without national insurance of any kind, almshouses are the last refuge of penniless people.
(not comparable)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.
mittellos, ohne Geld, ohne einen Pfennig
безде́нежныйbezdénežnyj, без гроша́bez grošá, без копе́йкиbez kopéjki
безгрошови́йbezhrošovýj, без гро́шейbez hróšej
- not having enough money to pay for necessities
Examples
21 sentencesI was penniless.
Я була без копійки у кишені.
ruУ меня не было ни копейки.
His failure in business left him penniless.
deSein Versagen im Geschäftlichen machte ihn völlig mittellos.
The problem is that he is penniless.
I was penniless when I arrived in Boston.
ruВ Бостон я прибыл без гроша в кармане.
You're not penniless.
Translations
8 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
From Middle English penyles, penylees; equivalent to penny + -less. Compare Old Norse pennFrom Middle English penyles, penylees; equivalent to penny + -less. Compare Old Norse penningalauss (“penniless”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Synonyms
58 synonyms- not having enough money to pay for necessities:hard upimpecuniousin straitened circumstancespenuriouspinched