broke-ass lifestyle

9.9

A way of living with very little money, using cheap choices to get by

noun
/broʊk æs ˈlaɪfˌstaɪl/

Offensive

: vida de mierda (vulgar)

Their broke-ass lifestyle meant getting creative with every meal and every dollar.

Examples

He wrote a blog about his broke-ass lifestyle after graduating from college with debt.
Even though I'm living a broke-ass lifestyle, I still find ways to have fun.
Living a broke-ass lifestyle can be really tough.
She often jokes about her broke-ass lifestyle.
Despite my broke-ass lifestyle, I still manage to enjoy my life with friends.
He shares his struggles and triumphs living a broke-ass lifestyle in his online posts.
Her broke-ass lifestyle forced her to learn how to budget carefully and find free events.

Synonyms

paycheck to paycheck

vsbroke-ass lifestyle

11 5.5

Having little or no savings and needing each payday to pay bills

describes a broader everyday lifestyle of ongoing financial struggle

in straitened circumstances

vsbroke-ass lifestyle

Formal

8.6

A person who has little money and cannot buy basic things

is informal and covers constant struggle even if essentials remain affordable

Antonyms

luxuriousness

1 7.2

Great comfort and rich, elegant living that costs a lot

Surface Forms

broke-ass lifestyle singular

broke-ass lifestyles plural

Morphology

broke-ass + lifestyle

The meaning 'a lifestyle marked by a lack of money' is directly derivable from combining 'broke-ass' (very poor) with 'lifestyle' (way of living). Although 'broke-ass' is informal/slang and contains an intensifier, its contribution to meaning is compositionally clear, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Broke-ass lifestyle comes from joining broke, meaning having no money, with the rude word ass, which makes the idea stronger, like saying 'very broke'. So the phrase gives a blunt picture of living with little money, and that is why it means 'a life of constant financial struggle'.