stone broke

adj

"stone-broke" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“stone broke” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Synonym of broke: without any money.

Corpus desk

Index EN-stone-broke · stone broke · English

stone broke · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "S" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for stone broke
PropertyValue
Headwordstone broke
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “stone broke” in English

stone brokeranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

stone broke is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Synonym of broke: without any money.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for stone broke, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From stone (“absolutely, completely”) + broke, probably under the influence of earlier expressions such as hard up. The correct English form is stone broke, spelled S-T-O-N-E- -B-R-O-K-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Synonym of broke: without any money.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how stone broke appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Stone-broke P... völlig zu Grunde gerichtet.
  2. Naples wasn't exactly short of nobility... Some were stone broke.

Etymology

From stone (“absolutely, completely”) + broke, probably under the influence of earlier expressions such as hard up.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "stone broke"?
"stone broke" is spelled S-T-O-N-E- -B-R-O-K-E.
What does "stone broke" mean?
As an adjective, "stone broke" means: Synonym of broke: without any money.
What is the origin of the word "stone broke"?
From stone (“absolutely, completely”) + broke, probably under the influence of earlier expressions such as hard up. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list