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broke

broke

336 1.8
Having no money
  • adjective
  • /broʊk/
  • Informal
: sin dinero
  • For "the best PI in Essex County," I was as broke as hell.

There are a lot of broke people who are starving.

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Examples

  • So that whole time I was broke, I had no money.

  • When Wilde crept back to Paris, he was broke, miserable, lonely, and desperate.

    Academic text (2011)
  • So, you know, really, really broke or really, really poor.

  • Making money, but we are broke so we have to find another way.

  • I mean, we were broke and in school, so.

  • Yeah, and like Dad used to say, 'We may be broke, but we're never poor.'

    Fiction book (1993)
  • There are a lot of broke people who are starving.

  • I need the diamonds, because I need the money, because I'm broke.

  • I paid for my classes and my books and my Adderall and now I'm broke.

  • After paying all my bills this month, I found myself completely broke.

Synonyms

poor
vsbroke
893 1.0

Having little money or possessions

is a direct lack of funds rather than a broader social state
impoverished
vsbroke
53 6.2

People or places that have very little money and few things they need

is the immediate state of having no money now rather than chronic
penniless
vsbroke
25 4.3

Having no money

is the standard term for lacking funds without extra tone
bust
vsbroke
  • Informal
23 5.4

Having no money to spend

is the everyday idea of lacking money without legal status
broke-ass
vsbroke
  • Offensive
11 9.9

Very poor and having almost no money

is the plain way to say lacking funds without slang intensity
10 5.1

Very poor and needing help to live

is the basic lack of funds without stressing extreme hardship
pinched
vsbroke
5 6.5

A person who has little money to pay basic costs

is the simple lack of funds rather than active inability
wiped out
vsbroke
  • Informal
4 7.1

A person who has lost all their money and savings

is the general lacking of funds not tied to recent loss
destitute
vsbroke
2 7.0

Completely without something that is needed or wanted

focuses narrowly on lacking money rather than all essentials
stone-broke
vsbroke
  • Informal
1 8.6

Having no money at all

is the broader phrase for lacking money without extreme emphasis
skint
vsbroke
  • Slang
1 9.9

Having little or no money

is the neutral expression for lacking funds rather than slang
impecunious
vsbroke
1 9.9

Having little or no money

is the common word used in everyday contexts about lacking funds
poor as a church mouse
vsbroke
  • Informal
1 7.6

Having almost no money

is the straightforward phrase for having no money without idiom
stony-broke
vsbroke
  • Informal
1 9.3

With no money at all

is the general state of lacking funds rather than total absence
moneyless
vsbroke
1 5.7

Having no money to pay for things

is the common, neutral way to say lacking funds
poor as a rat
vsbroke
  • Informal
8.3

Having almost no money or things

is the plain statement of lacking funds rather than a vivid idiom
9.9

Very poor with no money at all

is the neutral description of lacking funds without comic flair

Antonyms

613 2.5

Having a lot of money and many expensive things

61 5.5

Having a lot of money and possessions

Idioms

14 8.1

A sudden time of chaos and confusion that spreads quickly

to go for broke
  • Informal
10 6.4

To risk everything to try to succeed

1 9.9

Sudden noisy chaos starts

Compounds

stone-broke
  • Informal
1 8.6

Having no money at all

stony-broke
  • Informal
1 9.3

With no money at all

9.9

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

How Poor

destitute
22 6.5
penniless
25 4.3
broke
  • Informal
336 1.8

Surface Forms

broke positive

Etymology

The word broke comes from the idea of being broken, which means 'ruined' or 'not whole'. It is from the same root as break, so to be broke is to be 'without money', like something broken that no longer works.