# penniless

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈpɛ.nɪ.ləs/ · frequency rank #35,013

## Definitions
1. Lacking even the smallest amount of money.
2. Of a country's system of money, abstaining from the use of penny coins, despite having fully decimalized currency, by means of rounding of cash transactions (but not necessarily of cashless ones).

## Etymology
From Middle English penyles, penylees; equivalent to penny + -less. Compare Old Norse penningalauss (“penniless”).

## Easily confused with
- **pennies** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pennies-vs-penniless)

## Common misspellings (10)
`epnniless`, `peniless`, `peninless`, `pennielss`, `penniles`, `pennilless`, `pennilses`, `pennliess`, `pneniless`, `ppenniless`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/penniless