1.
penniless; broke; without a cent; flat broke
Having no money at all. Literally means not even one mon (an old unit of currency). Used to describe a state of complete financial emptiness.
無一文になってしまった。
I ended up completely broke.
彼は無一文から会社を立ち上げた。
He started the company from nothing.
ギャンブルに手を出して無一文になった友人を何度も見てきた。
I've seen many friends go broke from getting into gambling.
Composed of 無 (without) + 一文 (one mon — the smallest old coin denomination). Literally means not having even one mon. The 文 was a very small unit of currency in pre-modern Japan, so the expression emphasizes total poverty.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 無一文になる (to become penniless)
- 無一文から始める (to start from nothing)
- 無一文の状態 (a state of being penniless)
- 無一文で放り出される (to be thrown out without a penny)
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 一文無し — penniless; an older variant with essentially the same meaning
- 文無し — penniless; colloquial variant
- 金欠 — short of cash; more casual and less extreme, implying temporary shortage
- すっからかん — completely broke; very colloquial and emphatic
ETYMOLOGY:
The 文 was the smallest unit of currency during the Edo period. Even one 文 had very little value, so saying someone doesn't have even one emphasizes the completeness of their poverty.