Crossword Genius

Being out of money, die horribly in vain (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

idle

'in vain' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'being out of money die horribly' is the wordplay.
'being out of' indicates putting letters inside (some letters on the outside of others).
'money' becomes 'l' (L can mean 'pounds').
'horribly' indicates an anagram (a horribly wrong version of the letters).
'die' is an anagram of 'ide'.
'l' going into 'ide' is 'IDLE'.

(Other definitions for idle that I've seen before include "lndolent" , "having been taken from service" , "Without work" , "Do very little" , "Reluctant to work - Pythonesque Eric" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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