Standard Lemma guide

pennilessness

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The state or quality of being penniless.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The state or quality of being penniless.

Synonym of destitution (“extreme poverty”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: moneylessness, brokeness, beggary, destitution, impecuniosity, impecuniousness, indigence, mendicancy, mendicity, misery, neediness, pauperism, penury, poverty, privation, reduced circumstances, straitened circumstances

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a state of lacking money

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: impecuniousness, penuriousness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: poverty, poorness, impoverishment

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English penniless Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English pennilessness From penniless + -ness.

Across languages

Translations

6 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: rahattomuus — being penniless
  • Greek: αδεκαρία (adekaría) — being penniless
  • Hungarian: pénztelenség — being penniless
  • Indonesian: kemelaratan — being penniless
  • Kannada: ಅಕಿಂಚನ್ಯ (akiñcanya) — being penniless
  • Russian: безде́нежье (bezdénežʹje) — being penniless