Meaning of Idiom ‘Flat Broke’
To be flat broke means to be have no money at all; to be penniless; to have run out of funds. mcgraw, heritage
Variations of ‘flat broke’ are dead broke, stone broke, and stony broke.
Sentence Examples
“Can you loan me a few bucks for the bus? I’m flat broke.”
“I managed to pay my rent but now I’m flat broke. I don’t even know how I’m going to eat for the next two weeks.”
“I can’t afford to go out tonight. I’m dead broke.”
“I’d love to lend you some money but I’m flat broke myself.”
“I got used to being stone broke when I was young and now I can’t imagine how I managed.”
“He’s flat broke, obviously hungry.” “But he has money to buy drugs, right?” — Trading Places (1983)
“I need this story. I’m flat broke and Mac is going to fire me.” “How’re you flat broke? You make more money than anyone here.” — Mr. Deeds (2002)
“We may be flat broke, my darling, but we are not desperate.” — Mortdecai (2015)
“Sometimes I don’t get you. The shop’s wrecked. We’ve just been robbed, and you’re going fishing. We’re flat broke and you’re going fishing.” — The Karate Kid, Part III (1989)
“Well, given our present financial situation, compounded by on-going fixed expenses and outstanding invoices, I figure this station will be flat broke by the end of the week.” — UHF (1989)
“Thanks to you, I lost my second job inside a month and now I’m flat broke.” — My Boss’s Daughter (2003)
“lf l don’t get a clean bill of health on my cattle, we are just about dead. Dead broke.” — Hud (1963)
“I’m dead broke. l need a job. l want to go home. Can you help me out?” — The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002)
“I read in a movie magazine about a fella who landed in Hollywood stone broke and cleaned up a million! No experience, either.” — Scarlet Street (1945)
Origin
The use of broke to mean ‘impoverished or destitute’ comes from an old English form of the word broken that had been used since the late 1500s. A cognate, broc, referred to affliction, misery, etc. or ‘that which breaks.’
1Harper, Douglas. “Etymology of broke.” Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/broke. Accessed 2 October, 2024.,2“Broke, N.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, September 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/7896264434.
The word ‘flat’ is used as an intensifier, in this case to mean ‘completely. Another such uses for the word flat, among several, is ‘definite, or ‘direct’ as in ‘a flat refusal’ and in the related idiom, where it is sometimes paired with ‘out’ as in “I flat out refused…”
The word dead is used also to mean ‘completely or absolutely’ in the variation ‘dead broke,’ as well as the word ‘stone.’
Similar Idiom
Two Pennies to Rub Together, to not have
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Sources
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