Adjective

(-)

Not having a penny; utterly impoverished; extremely poor.

* 1889 , (Horatio Alger), Driven From Home , ch. 10:

A dollar and a quarter seems a small sum, but if you are absolutely penniless it might as well be a thousand.

*, chapter=17

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless , she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer.}}