pennilessness
pennilessness — noun
1. a condition in which someone has no money at all and cannot pay for even the mos
a condition in which someone has no money at all and cannot pay for even the most basic things such as food, housing, or medical care
After the factory shut down, Tendai's family fell into years of pennilessness.
collocation: fall into pennilessness
The old photographs capture the artist's pennilessness during his early years in Paris.
formal register: capture + abstract noun
Imran's pennilessness forced him to sleep in a public shelter for the whole winter.
Despite their temporary pennilessness, the family never lost their sense of humor or hope.
The novel follows a young woman's fall from wealth into pennilessness after the war.
- destitution
stronger and more urgent — suggests a life-threatening lack of basic necessities
- indigence
more formal and slightly dated; common in legal or historical writing
- impoverishment
focuses on the process of becoming poor rather than the resulting state
- poverty
more general and common; pennilessness is a more extreme form
文法句型
pennilessness + of [someone's situation]
用法筆記
Commonly found in formal writing, journalism, and literature rather than everyday speech. In casual conversation, speakers usually say 'having no money' or 'being broke' instead.