pennilessness - Glite Dictionary

Examples

After losing his job, his pennilessness left him struggling to pay for basic necessities.
But his pennilessness and low social status debars him from wooing her.

Academic text (1995)
Living in pennilessness made him appreciate even the smallest acts of kindness from strangers.

Synonyms

poverty

vspennilessness

584 2.0

A situation of having very little money and few things

emphasizes total absence of money rather than a broader lack of resources

need

vspennilessness

131 2.1

A situation when people lack basic things such as food or shelter

is about having no money specifically, not only missing necessities

destitution

vspennilessness

7 7.9

A situation when someone has no money, home, or way to live

is the lack of money specifically, not always all possessions or support

impoverishment

vspennilessness

5 6.8

A situation when people become very poor and lack basic things

is the present state of having no money, not the process of decline

penury

vspennilessness

2 9.7

A situation with almost no money and few basic things needed to live

is the complete absence of money rather than general material shortage

poorness

vspennilessness

1 2.5

A situation when someone has little money and few belongings

is the absolute state of having no money rather than general lack

indigence

vspennilessness

1 9.9

A very poor state where someone has almost no money, food, or shelter

focuses on total lack of money rather than general economic hardship

neediness

vspennilessness

1 4.6

Being very poor and not having basic things like food and shelter

is limited to having no money rather than overall dependency or want

pauperism

vspennilessness

Formal

1 9.9

A state of being very poor with almost nothing

refers specifically to having no money rather than social label or status

beggary

vspennilessness

1 8.2

The state of being very poor and having to beg for money or food

is about simply having no money, not necessarily requiring begging

indigency

vspennilessness

Formal

1 9.0

A lack of money for basic needs like food and shelter

is the pure absence of money without legal emphasis

impecuniousness

vspennilessness

1 9.9

A state of having little or no money

is complete lack of money rather than sometimes having very little

penuriousness

vspennilessness

9.9

A situation in which someone has very little money

focuses on absolute lack of money rather than personal stinginess

Antonyms

wealth

575 1.3

A large amount of money and valuable things that a person or country owns

How Poor

destitution

7 7.9

pennilessness

6.8

poverty

584 2.0

Surface Forms

pennilessness singular

pennilessnesses plural

Morphology

pennilessness = penniless (transparent) = penny + less + ness

Formed regularly from 'penniless' (penny + -less) with the nominalizing suffix -ness; meaning 'the state of having no money' is directly derived.

Etymology

Pennilessness breaks into three simple parts: penny (a 'small coin'), -less ('without'), and -ness ('state of being'). So pennilessness is the 'state of being' without even a penny, which is why it means having no money.