impecunious
Americanadjective
adjective
Synonym Usage
See poor.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of impecunious
First recorded in 1590–1600; im- 2 + obsolete pecunious “wealthy,” from Latin pecūniōsus, equivalent to pecūni(a) “wealth” + -ōsus -ous
Explanation
If you are hard up, broke, penniless, or strapped for cash, you could describe yourself as impecunious. Then maybe you could make some money teaching vocabulary words. Impecunious comes from the old Latin word for money, pecunia, combined with the prefix im, meaning not or without. But impecunious doesn’t just mean having no money. It means that you almost never have any money. If you go into the arts, you are most likely facing an impecunious future. If you gamble away your cash instead of saving it for rent, your landlord might throw you out for being impecunious.
Vocabulary lists containing impecunious
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "I"
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Broke-abulary: Synonyms for "Poor"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Impecunious governments trying to impose the rule of law find it subverted into the rule of lawyers and trial by media.
From The Guardian • Nov. 15, 2012
Impecunious, somnolent, dignified, Port Royal would be just the place for a company of scholars with little money but much bookish fervor, and last week that was just what began to assemble there.
From Time Magazine Archive
In the early telegraph days I remember going with him to see Mackay in 'The Impecunious Country Editor.'
From Edison, His Life and Inventions by Dyer, Frank Lewis
Impecunious princes and potentates have been known to replenish their purses in this way, though hitherto usually by private sale rather than market quotations.
From The Galaxy Vol. 23, No. 1 by Various
Impecunious, mercenary widow, determined to settle her daughters in life without any regard to eugenic principles.
From Bluebeard; a musical fantasy by Wiggin, Kate Douglas Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
