Synonyms for penurious
- adjective
Most common
stingy miserly parsimonious ungenerous impoverished penniless
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Tight — miserly; excessively cheap
tight, stingy, parsimonious, mean, close, miserly, ungenerous, niggardly, cheap, swear UK, shabby, grasping, peddling, penny-pinching, sordid, close-fisted, tight-fisted, illiberal, scrubby, avaricious, chintzy, cheeseparing
2. Poor — impoverished; wanting for money
hard up, poor, impoverished, penniless, impecunious, broke, bankrupt, needy, poverty-stricken, strapped, pinched, destitute, indigent, beggarly, beggared, necessitous, stony, insolvent, moneyless
Definitions
- adj. 1
Miserly; excessively cheap.
The old man died a penurious wretch; eighty-thousand dollars in the mattress and as many holes in the roof.
- adj. 2
Impoverished; wanting for money.
The poor penurious horde, naught in the cooking pot and naught in the belly.
Related words
- Word family
- penuriousness penury
Choose the right word
Avaricious and covetous refer especially to acquisition, miserly, niggardly, parsimonious, and penurious to expenditure. Parsimonious and penurious may apply to one's outlay either for himself or for others; in the latter use, they are somewhat less harsh and reproachful terms than niggardly.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- stingy Shylock is greedy, and what is worse, very stingy.
- miserly The principal was always miserly with words.
- parsimonious The parsimonious patron spent aeons haggling with the clerk.
- impoverished The war lasting for years impoverished the country.
- penniless When his business failed, he was left penniless.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| penurious | steady | |
| stingy | rising | |
| miserly | rising | |
| parsimonious | rising | |
| ungenerous | steady | |
| impoverished | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- mean1, poor1
- 5 letters
- close1, broke1, cheap1, tight1, swear1, needy2, stony2
- 6 letters
- shabby2, stingy2, sordid2
- 7 letters
- pinched1, miserly3, scrubby2, chintzy2
- 8 letters
- bankrupt2, strapped1, grasping2, peddling3, indigent3, beggarly, beggared
- 9 letters
- destitute3, penniless3, insolvent3, illiberal, niggardly3, moneyless3
- 10 letters
- avaricious, ungenerous
- 11 letters
- impecunious, necessitous
- 12 letters
- impoverished3, parsimonious5, cheeseparing
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (needy2 = 2 syllables).