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stone-broke

stone-broke

1 8.6
Having no money at all
  • adjective
  • /stoʊn broʊk/
  • Informal
translation icon : sin un centavo
  • After losing his job, he found himself stone-broke and unable to pay the rent.

Examples

  • Damn it, Billy, you're all stone broke most of the time.

  • But, since it's not like that, then we're stone-broke.

  • I read in a movie magazine about a fella who landed in Hollywood stone broke... ...and cleaned up a million.

  • When her business failed, she ended up stone-broke and living with her parents.

  • Many artists often struggle and are stone-broke during the early years of their careers.

Synonyms

broke
vsstone-broke
  • Informal
237 1.8

Having no money

expresses the identical complete lack of funds in plain form
impoverished
vsstone-broke
50 6.2

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

points to total absence of funds in immediate terms
wiped out
vsstone-broke
  • Informal
39 7.1

A person who has lost all their money and savings

describes complete lack of funds without stressing a loss event
penniless
vsstone-broke
24 4.3

Having no money

uses the same idea but in neutral common language
destitute
vsstone-broke
20 6.5

Very poor and without basic things like food or a home

describes having no funds but not always lacking essentials yet
poverty-stricken
vsstone-broke
9 5.1

Very poor and needing help to live

means complete lack of funds but may not imply external aid
broke-ass
vsstone-broke
  • Offensive
2 9.9

Very poor and having almost no money

means total lack of funds without the coarse slang
broken
vsstone-broke
1 7.2

Having no money after a big loss

signifies no funds but not necessarily caused by a ruin event
skint
vsstone-broke
  • Slang
1 9.9

Having little or no money

describes total lack of funds without the informal tone
bust
vsstone-broke
  • Informal
1 5.4

Having no money to spend

means having no money without implying formal insolvency
stony-broke
vsstone-broke
  • Informal
1 9.3

With no money at all

is the same meaning but appears as a different word form
penurious
vsstone-broke
  • Formal
1 9.9

Very poor and unable to pay for basic needs

focuses on having no funds without stressing basic needs
poor as a church mouse
vsstone-broke
  • Informal
1 7.6

Having almost no money

describes total lack of funds without the idiomatic imagery
moneyless
vsstone-broke
5.7

Having no money to pay for things

focuses on absolute lack of funds in everyday speech
poor as a rat
vsstone-broke
  • Informal
8.3

Having almost no money or things

says the same absence of funds more directly and neutrally
pinched
vsstone-broke
6.5

A person who has little money to pay basic costs

denotes complete absence of funds rather than temporary strain

Antonyms

520 2.5

Having a lot of money and many expensive things

1 6.0

A person who has a lot of money

How Poor

stone-broke
  • Informal
1 8.6
penniless
24 4.3
broke
  • Informal
237 1.8
hard up
  • Informal
10 8.0

Surface Forms

stone-broke positive

Morphology

stone-broke = stone + broke (semi-transparent) = stone + broke

The compound is clearly 'stone' + 'broke', but 'stone' functions as an idiomatic intensifier (not a productive literal modifier), so the full meaning relies on that idiomatic use.

Etymology

Stone-broke comes from putting stone, used to mean 'completely' as in stone-dead, together with broke, which means 'without money'. So stone-broke means being totally without money.