What does broke mean?
'Broke' functions in English both as an informal adjective meaning entirely without money, and as the simple past tense of the verb 'break'. In its financial sense, it describes a person who has spent or lost all available funds — a temporary condition more often than permanent poverty — and it frequently appears in emphatic phrases such as 'flat broke', 'stony broke', and 'dead broke'. It can also describe businesses or ventures that have failed financially, as in 'the company went broke'. The word carries a casual, sometimes self-deprecating tone, making it a staple of everyday conversation, though writers aiming for formality would choose 'insolvent' or 'bankrupt' instead. Its connection to 'break' is literal: being broke originally evoked the idea of one's finances being shattered or ruined. This dual identity — a vivid everyday term for empty pockets and a core grammatical form of one of English's most common verbs — makes 'broke' both highly useful and etymologically intriguing.
Having no money at all; penniless.
"Between jobs and with savings gone, she was broke for the first time in years."
Informal; often intensified as 'flat broke', 'stony broke', or 'dead broke'.
The simple past tense of 'break'; to have shattered, fractured, or violated something.
"He broke the window with a stray cricket ball."
When you're 'flat broke,' you're not just poor — you're linguistically shattered, because the word literally comes from 'break,' as if your finances snapped clean in two.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of broke
'Broke' derives from the Old English verb 'brecan', meaning 'to break', which traces back to Proto-Germanic roots shared with German 'brechen' and Dutch 'breken'. The past-tense form 'broke' emerged through normal Germanic strong-verb vowel alternation. Its figurative application to finances — someone whose fortunes have been 'broken' or ruined — developed in American English, becoming widespread by the 17th century. A related derivative is 'breach', which entered English via Old French from the same Germanic root.
Related word forms
How broke is actually used
'Broke' in the money sense is informal and typically describes a temporary state rather than chronic poverty; for formal contexts, terms like 'insolvent' or 'bankrupt' are preferred. The intensifiers 'flat', 'stone/stony', and 'dead' are commonly used before it. As the past tense of 'break', it is standard in both British and American English.
Easily confused with broke
'Broke' means having no money (or is the simple past of 'break'), while 'broken' is the past participle meaning damaged, shattered, or no longer functioning.