Synonyms for miserly
- adjective
Most common
All synonyms
Adjective
stingy, ungenerous, avaricious, parsimonious, niggardly, tight-fisted, penny-pinching, mean, covetous, greedy, cheap, meager US CA, meagre UK, money-hungry informal, churlish, rapacious, illiberal, close, chintzy, shabby, sordid, mercenary, close-fisted
Definitions
- adj. 1
Like a miser, very or objectionably cautious with money.
He had a miserly attitude toward spending money.
Choose the right word
Avaricious and covetous refer especially to acquisition, miserly, niggardly, parsimonious, and penurious to expenditure. Miserly and niggardly persons seek to gain by mean and petty savings; the miserly by stinting themselves, the niggardly by stinting others.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- stingy Shylock is greedy, and what is worse, very stingy.
- parsimonious The parsimonious patron spent aeons haggling with the clerk.
- avaricious Mr. Jackson is an avaricious old man.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| miserly | rising | |
| stingy | rising | |
| parsimonious | rising | |
| avaricious | steady | |
| ungenerous | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- mean1
- 5 letters
- close1, cheap1
- 6 letters
- greedy2, shabby2, stingy2, meager2, sordid2, meagre
- 7 letters
- chintzy2
- 8 letters
- churlish2, covetous
- 9 letters
- mercenary4, illiberal, rapacious3, niggardly3
- 10 letters
- avaricious, ungenerous
- 12 letters
- parsimonious5
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (greedy2 = 2 syllables).