idiom · informal
be broke
UK/biː ˈbrəʊk/US/bi ˈbroʊk/be BROKE
speakingtask2
to have no money; to be out of money
Examples
“I can't join you for dinner — I'm broke until payday.”
“After paying the tuition, they were completely broke.”
“He lost his job and was broke for months.”
Band 8 sentence
“After the emergency repair bills, I was completely broke and had to ask my parents for help.”
Collocations
- be completely broke
- be temporarily broke
- be broke until payday
Word family
broke adjto be broke verb phrase
Common mistakes
be broken→be broke
I'm being broke→I'm broke
Say it for a higher band
5have no money→6be poor→7+be broke
Synonyms
penniless
bankrupt
Easily confused
penniless
“After the fire he was left penniless.”
bankrupt
“The company went bankrupt after several bad investments.”
Related words
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In Hardship
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