flat broke

Also, stone or stony broke. Completely penniless. For example, I can't help you—I'm flat broke, or He's stone broke again. The first term dates from the mid-1800s and uses flat in the sense of “completely” or “downright.” The variant dates from the late 1800s.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Related Words for flat broke

needy, penniless, impoverished, destitute, poverty-stricken, bankrupt, broke, indigent, underprivileged, meager, low, insolvent, poor, strapped, exhausted, distressed, barren, flat, down-and-out, scanty

Examples from the Web for flat broke

Historical Examples of flat broke

At last he says to me, 'You are flat-broke, and they'll all be down on you when you get back to the post.
The Deserter
Charles King