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Synonyms

go broke

Idioms  

  1. Also, go bust. Undergo financial collapse, lose most or all of one's money. For example, The company's about to go broke, or The producer of that movie went bust. The first expression dates from the mid-1600s; the second, slangier variant dates from the mid-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.

An estimated 78% of NFL players go bankrupt or are under financial stress within two years of retirement, according to CNBC, while 60% of NBA players go broke or bankrupt within five years of retirement.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 20, 2025

Sometimes you go broke and tell your funny story about the importance of due diligence to young investors.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025

"And if this continues, a lot of folks like me are going to go broke too."

From BBC • Sep. 14, 2025

“Either they will not hire you or they will go broke if they do that once too often.”

From Washington Times • Dec. 21, 2023

“We go’n get rich or go broke, Grandpa?”

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns

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.