miserly
adjective
Synonyms
- cheap
- chintzy
- close
- closefisted
- mean
- mingy
- niggard
- niggardly
- parsimonious
- penny-pinching
- penurious
- pinching
- pinchpenny
- spare
- sparing
- stingy
- stinting
- tight
- tightfisted
- uncharitable
- ungenerous
Example Sentences
Elliot Haspel, Washington Post, 30 June 2022 And while other wealthy countries spend an average of $14,000 each year per child on early-childhood care, the U.S. spends a miserly $500. Kendra Hurley, The Atlantic, 15 June 2022 California’s latest water emergency is forcing residents to dial back their lawn sprinklers, shorten their showers and make other water-miserly changes in their routines. Los Angeles Times, 6 June 2022 Mileage-miserly Japanese cars got a firm foothold in the American market. Los Angeles Times, 22 Mar. 2022 Germany has blocked arms exports to Ukraine from a NATO ally and offered Kyiv a miserly 5,000 helmets. Adam O’neal, WSJ, 11 Feb. 2022 The deal Potter offered George Bailey, $20,000 a year for three years, was extraordinarily generous, unthinkable from miserly Ebenezer, an employer who begrudged his clerk a lump of coal. Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 19 Dec. 2021 The heartwarming tale of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge’s Christmas morning redemption with the help of three time-traveling ghosts has remained a one of the most enduring and popular subjects for holiday entertainment for more than a century. San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Nov. 2021 Players Theatre is also taking a fresh crack at the redemptive ghost story of miserly moneylender Ebenezer Scrooge. San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Dec. 2021 See More Word History
1593, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
miserly
adjective
miserly
adjective
Synonyms & Similar Words
- stingy
- parsimonious
- tightfisted
- greedy
- selfish
- niggardly
- ungenerous
- careful
- niggard
- penurious
- mingy
- pinching
- stinting
- cheap
- chintzy
- uncharitable
- tight
- close
- penny-pinching
- sparing
- mean
- desirous
- economizing
- conserving
- economical
- spare
- thrifty
- frugal
- pinchpenny
- closefisted
- avaricious
- saving
- small
- scrimping
- skimping
- chary
- covetous
- hoggish
- grudging
- mercenary
- begrudging
- acquisitive
- rapacious
- shabby
- coveting
- envious
- sordid
- grasping
- avid
- resentful
- itchy
- inhospitable
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- generous
- munificent
- charitable
- liberal
- bountiful
- bounteous
- openhanded
- unselfish
- unstinting
- unsparing
- extravagant
- altruistic
- overgenerous
- selfless
- lavish
- benevolent
- handsome
- free
- hospitable
- magnanimous
- philanthropic
- profuse
- beneficent
- kindly
- profligate
- humanitarian
- freehanded
- philanthropical
- spendthrift
- compassionate
- wasteful
- unthrifty
- wasting
- openhearted
- prodigal
- thriftless
- squandering
- good-hearted
- greathearted
- dissipating
- frittering
- splurging
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of miserly are close, niggardly, parsimonious, penurious, and stingy. While all these words mean "being unwilling or showing unwillingness to share with others," miserly suggests a sordid avariciousness and a morbid pleasure in hoarding.
Although the words close and miserly have much in common, close suggests keeping a tight grip on one's money and possessions.
While the synonyms niggardly and miserly are close in meaning, niggardly implies giving or spending the very smallest amount possible.
The synonyms parsimonious and miserly are sometimes interchangeable, but parsimonious suggests a frugality so extreme as to lead to stinginess.
The words penurious and miserly can be used in similar contexts, but penurious implies niggardliness that gives an appearance of actual poverty.
While in some cases nearly identical to miserly, stingy implies a marked lack of generosity.