stony broke

adj

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

The verdict

“stony 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) - Alternative form of broke: without any money.

Corpus desk

Index EN-stony-broke · stony broke · English

stony 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 stony broke
PropertyValue
Headwordstony broke
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “stony broke” in English

stony brokefalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Rare enough to double-check

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

Zero misspellings are on record for stony broke in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From stony (“like a stone”) + broke, after earlier stone broke. The correct English form is stony broke, spelled S-T-O-N-Y- -B-R-O-K-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Alternative form of broke: without any money.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. He had arrived at a crisis of impecuniosity compared to which the small circumstance of being pebble-beached and stony-broke might be described as comparative affluence.

Etymology

From stony (“like a stone”) + broke, after earlier stone broke.

Synonyms

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 "stony broke"?
"stony broke" is spelled S-T-O-N-Y- -B-R-O-K-E.
What does "stony broke" mean?
As an adjective, "stony broke" means: Alternative form of broke: without any money.
What is the origin of the word "stony broke"?
From stony (“like a stone”) + broke, after earlier stone broke. 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