broke

Broke is an informal adjective in English that describes having little or no money, or being financially insolvent. It is commonly used to describe a person who cannot meet current expenses or debts, as in “I’m broke until payday” or “The company went broke.” Broke also functions as the simple past tense of the verb break, as in “I broke the vase,” a separate grammatical sense that is unrelated to finances.

The financial sense of broke emerged in 19th-century American English as slang for being financially ruined, likely by metaphor from “broken” funds or accounts. It is informal and often carries a humorous or self-deprecating tone, though it can also indicate genuine hardship.

Because it is slang, broke is unsuitable for formal contexts or official reporting. In more formal language, one might say impoverished, destitute, or insolvent, depending on context. In everyday speech, it can describe temporary hardship or ongoing financial constraint, and it is commonly used in phrases like “go broke” to indicate the act of losing all money.

Related expressions include “go broke” and “hard up.” Regional variants appear in different varieties of English, such as “skint” in parts of the United Kingdom, or “penniless” as a more neutral descriptor. The term intersects with discussions of personal finance and economic inequality, illustrating how informal language reflects changing attitudes toward money and budgeting.