Word: impecunious (adjective)

Associations

"Impecunious" means having little or no money; poor.

• Example 1: "After losing his job, he found himself impecunious and struggling to pay bills." This shows someone without money.
• Example 2: "The impecunious artist couldn't afford new supplies." Here, it means the artist is poor.
• Example 3: "Many impecunious students rely on scholarships to continue their education." This means students have little money. A well-known synonym is "poor." The difference is "impecunious" is more formal and often used in writing or formal speech, while "poor" is more common in everyday language.

Substitution

You can use words like:

• poor (more common, informal)
• penniless (emphasizes having no money at all)
• broke (very informal, often used in spoken English) Changing the word changes the tone: "impecunious" sounds formal or literary, "broke" sounds casual.

Deconstruction

The word comes from Latin:

• prefix "im-" means "not"
• root "pecunious" comes from "pecunia," Latin for "money" So "impecunious" literally means "not having money."

Inquiry

• Can you think of a time when someone might be described as impecunious?
• How would you explain being impecunious to a friend using simpler words?
• Do you know other words that describe money problems? How are they different from impecunious?