penny-pinchern.
/ˈpɛnɪpɪn(t)ʃə/, U.S. /ˈpɛniˌpɪn(t)ʃər/ colloquial (originally U.S.)
A niggardly or parsimonious person.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > retaining > niggardliness or meanness > [noun] > niggard or mean person
nithinga1225
chinch?a1300
nigc1300
chincher1333
shut-purse1340
niggardc1384
haynec1386
nigona1400
pinchera1425
pinchpenny?c1425
pynepenya1450
pelt1511
chincherda1529
churl1535
pinchbeck1538
carl?1542
penny-father1549
nipfarthing1566
nipper?1573
holdfast1576
pinchpence1577
pinch fistc1580
pinchfart1592
shit-sticks1598
clunchfist1606
puckfist1606
sharp-nose1611
spare-good1611
crib1622
hog grubber?1626
dry-fist1633
clusterfist1652
niggardling1654
frummer1659
scrat1699
sting-hum1699
nipcheese1785
pincha1825
screw1825
wire-drawer1828
close-fist1861
penny-pincher1875
nip-skin1876
parer1887
pinch-plum1892
cheapskate1899
meanie1902
tightwad1906
stinge1914
penny-peeler1925
mean1938
stiff1967
1875 Weekly Trinity Jrnl. (Weaverville, Calif.) 30 Oct. ‘Can't yer economize with one of them pull-backs the city gals wear?’ It was then that Mariar..remarked that she wasn't going to ‘stop the circulation of blood in her legs for no bald-headed old penny-pincher’.
1899 Humeston (Iowa) New Era 26 July 8/3 The penny-grabber and penny-pincher has a mighty unpleasant time of it in this world.
1916 Trenton (New Jersey) Evening Times 8 Dec. 6/4 The founder of the American dynasty of Belmont was no penny-pincher.
1925 J. M. Williams Our Rural Heritage xi. 94 The man who..was ‘hard on’ those in his debt, or who was habitually trying in ‘small ways’ to get the best of his neighbours, was condemned as a ‘penny-pincher,’ or as ‘grinding the face of the poor.’
1956 F. Castle Violent Hours (1966) xviii. 174 If Forhaan had really been a penny-pincher, he would never have offered so quickly to pay for Hazel's care.
1973 ‘D. Shannon’ Spring of Violence (1974) ix. 150 Typical of the penny-pincher miser.
1999 Y. M. Murray What it takes to get to Vegas ix. 131 A couple penny-pinchers were already catfighting over a pair of panties.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1875