Meanings
- not comparableLacking money.First known use 1596
When I, good friends, was called to the bar, I'd an appetite fresh and hearty, But I was, as many young barristers are, An impecunious party.
1875 March 25, William S. Gilbert, Trial by Jury3 more examples
"Then what became of her?" "Her? Which 'her'? The park is full of 'hers.'" "The lady with the green feathers in her hat. A big Gainsborough hat. I am quite sure it was Miss Hartuff." "Not improbably. I presume she does sometimes take the air. And possibly she may be the happy owner of a Gainsborough hat with green feathers." "Don't be frivolous, please. She was in that victoria." "Then perhaps she was too impecunious to drive both ways."
February 1896, Ground-swells, by Jeannette H. Walworth, published in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine; page 183[I]t would be a simple matter, sir, to find some impecunious author who would be glad to do the actual composition of the volume for a small fee.
1919, P. G. Wodehouse, “Leave it to Jeeves”, in My Man JeevesThe Rhymney (51 route miles), once an impecunious hanger-on of the Taff Vale, had enjoyed its own route through Caerphilly into Cardiff since 1871, [...].
1939 September, D. S. Barrie, “The Railways of South Wales”, in Railway Magazine, page 158
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivenot having enough money to pay for necessities
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinpecūniōsus
- Englishimpecunious
From im- + pecunious, from Latin pecūniōsus, from pecūnia (“money”) + -ōsus (“full of”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian безпаричен
- безпаричен (bezparičen)lacking money
Czech nemající peníze, jsoucí bez peněz
- nemající penízelacking money
- jsoucí bez penězlacking money
- jsoucí bez prostředkůlacking money
- nezámožnýlacking money
- chudýlacking money
Finnish rahaton
- rahatonlacking money
French impécunieux
- impécunieuxlacking money
Māori monikore, pakukore
- monikorelacking money
- pakukorelacking money
Norwegian fattig
- fattiglacking money
Polish biedny, ubogi
- biednylacking money
- ubogilacking money
- niezamożnylacking money
Spanish menesteroso, inope
- menesterosolacking money
- inopelacking money
- impecunelacking money
Cite this entry
impecunious. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/impecunious
“impecunious.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/impecunious. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “impecunious,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/impecunious.
Source: impecunious on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.