impecunious - Wiktionary, the free dictionary


Article Images

From im- +‎ pecunious, from Latin pecūniōsus, from pecūnia (“money”) + -ōsus (“full of”).

impecunious (not comparable)

  1. Lacking money. [from 1596]

    • 1875 March 25, William S. Gilbert, Trial by Jury:

      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.

    • February 1896, Ground-swells, by Jeannette H. Walworth, published in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine; page 183:
      "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."

    • 1919, P. G. Wodehouse, “Leave it to Jeeves”, in My Man Jeeves:

      [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.

    • 1939 September, D. S. Barrie, “The Railways of South Wales”, in Railway Magazine, page 158:

      The Rhymney (51 route miles), once an impecunious hanger-on of the Taff Vale, had enjoyed its own route through Caerphilly into Cardiff since 1871, [...].