Synonyms for stingy
- adjective
Most common
All synonyms
Adjective
1. Miserly
miserly, tight, niggardly, cheap informal, parsimonious, penny-pinching, mean UK, tight-fisted, chintzy, little, avaricious, penny-wise, paltry, meager US CA, meagre UK, shabby, churlish, measly, tight-assed informal, tight-arsed UK, scanty, sparing, penurious, close-fisted
Other
Definitions
- adj. 1
Unwilling to spend, give, or share; ungenerous; mean.
Related words
- Word family
- stingily stinginess
- Is a kind of
- cautious frugal greedy
Choose the right word
Greedy and stingy are used not only of money, but often of other things, as food, etc. The greedy child wishes to enjoy everything himself; the stingy child, to keep others from getting it.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- miserly The principal was always miserly with words.
- parsimonious The parsimonious patron spent aeons haggling with the clerk.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| stingy | rising | |
| miserly | rising | |
| parsimonious | rising | |
| niggardly | falling |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- mean1
- 5 letters
- cheap1, tight1, scaly
- 6 letters
- little2, shabby2, meager2, paltry2, meagre, measly2, scanty2
- 7 letters
- sparing2, miserly3, chintzy2
- 8 letters
- churlish2
- 9 letters
- niggardly3, penurious4
- 10 letters
- avaricious, ungenerous
- 11 letters
- closefisted
- 12 letters
- parsimonious5
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (little2 = 2 syllables).