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Synonyms

flat broke

Idioms  

  1. Also,. 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.

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.

The woman making the request, Suerkis Polanco, explained that her family was flat broke and facing eviction from their “chete” in early January.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 4, 2024

When he was first elected in 1979, he was flat broke.

From Salon • Sep. 14, 2023

Wedding gifts are part of the current set of traditions for saying “Yay!” when a couple marries, and that applies whether a couple is flat broke or flush.

From Washington Post • Nov. 5, 2021

Left there nearly flat broke and a broken golfer.

From Golf Digest • Feb. 7, 2020

He was a few dollars short of flat broke and only marginally employed at the depths of the Depression.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

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.