as in impoverished
lacking money or material possessions
went from being a penniless girl to owner of her own restaurant
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of penniless
Meanwhile, Andrea was left nearly penniless to care for their four children, the youngest of whom was 3 at the time, and had to quickly figure out how the rest of her life would go.
—
Meredith Wilshere, People.com, 8 June 2025
To these penniless and amiably drunken men, every boozy beverage is always the last one — truly, for real this time, the last one — until the next one that usually comes right after.
—Tomris Laffly, Variety, 25 May 2025
Chicago Tribune 1924: After spending his final years living in the Hotel Warner at 33rd Street and Cottage Grove Avenue in Chicago, penniless and in rapidly declining health, architect Louis Sullivan died.
—Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 14 Apr. 2025
Eugene was penniless and in debt to his sister to the tune of $2,000.
—Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 31 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for penniless
Meredith Wilshere, People.com, 8 June 2025
To these penniless and amiably drunken men, every boozy beverage is always the last one — truly, for real this time, the last one — until the next one that usually comes right after.
—Tomris Laffly, Variety, 25 May 2025
Chicago Tribune 1924: After spending his final years living in the Hotel Warner at 33rd Street and Cottage Grove Avenue in Chicago, penniless and in rapidly declining health, architect Louis Sullivan died.
—Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 14 Apr. 2025
Eugene was penniless and in debt to his sister to the tune of $2,000.
—Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 31 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for penniless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for penniless
Adjective
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Having two of the three most impoverished cities, especially when those cities are experiencing booming population growth, is its own kind of economic miracle, if an ignominious one.—
Kathryn Anne Edwards,
Mercury News,
7 Aug. 2025
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The eye-popping dollar figures in the statements contrast with everything else happening on an impoverished island, where people spend much of their time without electricity and many still depend on meager food rations to survive.—
Nora Gamez Torres,
Miami Herald,
6 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Additionally, over-saturating with water is a poor choice for these floors.—
Daley Quinn,
Southern Living,
16 Aug. 2025
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Specifically, poor capital allocation decisions have destroyed significant value.—
Kenneth Squire,
CNBC,
16 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Campaigning is expensive, so if the people you are elected to represent are going broke, special interest groups fill the fiscal void.—
Christopher Eric Bouchat,
Baltimore Sun,
29 July 2025
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All the while Lucy finds herself in a love triangle torn between a wealthy finance man and a broke, aspiring actor.—
Yola Robert,
Forbes.com,
26 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Penniless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/penniless. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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