Synonyms of penniless
56 similar words
Another word for penniless is farthingless. Other synonyms of penniless are moneyless, destitute, nillionaire, almsless and arm.
Synonyms and similar words for penniless
adjectiveLacking even the smallest amount of money.
- farthinglessWithout a farthing; very poor.
- moneylessHaving no (or very little) money.
- destituteLacking money, poor, impoverished; especially, extremely so.
- nillionaireSomebody without money.
- almslessNot having any alms; impoverished.
- arm
- badly offIn unfortunate circumstances, especially having financial difficulty.
- bankruptIn a condition of bankruptcy; unable to pay outstanding debts or meet financial obligations; specifically, having been...
- beggaredPoor; empoverished.
- beggarly
- boracicPenniless.
- brokeWithout any money, penniless.
- brokenHaving no money; bankrupt, broke.
- broker than the Ten CommandmentsExtremely impoverished.
- dirt poor
- disadvantaged
- down and outIn a condition of poverty or debility, especially as a result of experiencing a financial or personal setback.
- down at heel
- down on one's luckUnlucky or undergoing a period of bad luck, especially with respect to financial matters.
- down on one's uppersImpecunious, lacking money.
- empty-handed
- feeling the pinch
- flat
- goodlessWithout goods or property; destitute.
- hard upLacking money; impecunious; in financial difficulties.
- impecuniousLacking money.
- impoverished
- in need
- indigentPoor; destitute; in need.
- insolvent
- lower-class
- necessitous
- needy
- pauperized
- penuriousImpoverished; wanting for money.
- pinched
- pok kai slangHaving no money; broke; bankrupt.
- poorWith no or few possessions or money, particularly in relation to contemporaries who do have them.
- poor as a church mouseVery poor, to the point of starving or begging; utterly destitute.
- poor as a ratSynonym of poor as a church mouse.
- poor as JobExtremely poor, destitute.
- possessionlessWithout possessions.
- poverty-ridden
- poverty-strickenVery poor.
- shillinglessWithout a shilling; broke.
- skintPenniless, poor, impecunious, broke.
- stone-broke
- stony-broke
- strapped
- unwealthyNot wealthy.
- wealthlessHaving little or no wealth; poor.
- depauperate obsolete
- groatless archaic, rareWithout a groat; very poor.
- oofless UK, datedShort of money; poor.
- stuck archaic, slangIn the situation of having no money.
- threadbare archaic, obsoleteOf a person: wearing clothes of threadbare (sense 1) material; hence, impoverished, poor.
Meaning of penniless
- adjective Lacking even the smallest amount of money.
- adjective 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).
penniless in other languages
Questions about synonyms of penniless
- What is another word for penniless?
- Penniless has 56 synonyms on Word.ws, such as farthingless, moneyless, destitute, nillionaire, almsless, arm, badly off and bankrupt.
- What does penniless mean?
- Penniless means lacking even the smallest amount of money.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: penniless (page history and authors) and the entries of the words listed. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws grouped the synonyms and antonyms by meaning and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Synonyms of penniless.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/penniless. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.