stingy Hear it!

stingy¹ Definition

stingy (stin)

adjective stin·gier, stin·gi·est

  1. giving or spending grudgingly or only through necessity; mean; miserly
  2. less than needed or expected; scanty

Etymology: < *stinge, dial. form of sting

stingy¹ Related Forms
stin·gily adverb stin·gi·ness noun
stingy² Definition

stingy (stiŋē)

adjective

stinging or capable of stinging

stingy Synonyms

stingy

modif.

parsimonious, niggardly, miserly, penurious, close, closefisted, sordid, greedy, covetous, tightfisted, tight*, avaricious, acquisitive, grasping, curmudgeonly, penny-pinching, grudging, cheeseparing, sparing, ignoble, cheap*, scurvy, rapacious, near, narrow, shabby, scrimping, skimping, churlish, ungenerous, selfish, meagerly, meanly, skimpy, illiberal, extortionate.

Antonyms generous*, bountiful, liberal.

stingy implies a grudging, mean reluctance to part with anything belonging to one; close suggests the keeping of a tight hold on what one has accumulated; niggardly implies such closefistedness that one grudgingly spends or gives the least amount possible; parsimonious implies unreasonable economy or frugality, often to the point of niggardliness; penurious implies such extreme parsimony and niggardliness as to make one seem poverty-stricken or destitute; miserly implies the penuriousness of one who is meanly avaricious and hoarding

stingy Usage Examples

Preposition: with

  • holiday: Other Related Gripes People standing in the way Employers stingy with holiday Why do the British queue so much?
  • relief: Daniel Drezner has a go at clearing things up: 1 ) Is the United States stingy with disaster relief?
  • aid: Drezner goes on: 2 ) Beyond humanitarian relief, is the United States stingy with aid?

Modifies a noun

  • portion: Also, with the tomato coming in rather a stingy portion there is very little moisture from the fillings either.
  • man: He does not waste his property and neither is he a stingy man.
  • thing: She - " " You want her all to yourself, you stingy old thing!
  • side: The soup was lovely but the two small pieces of sliced french bread seemed a bit on the stingy side!
  • person: The £ 10,995 Sport SR, which replaces the 160SR, is a bargain in even the stingiest person 's mind.
  • people: Perfect for stingy people with both a conscience and good taste in music.

Modifying Another Word

  • too: All the tracks are as previous, so it looks like they were just too stingy to shell out for the artwork!
  • so: I really have to move on very quickly because you've been so stingy with time.
  • very: Similarly, the tomato was okay but there was a very stingy portion of it as well - 2 slices in the entire sandwich.
  • not: I am not stingy in compliments to him myself.
  • little: The crispy duck with pancakes was superb, although they were a little stingy on the plum sauce.
  • quite: We were all quite stingy, apart from Jonathan Fullarton, who owes the museum £ 100.

Used with adjective complement

  • seem: Article continues The Blairs have always seemed stingy in a way that only the British middle class can be.
  • become: The exceptions are women aged over 54 and men over 60, who should contract in simply because the contracting-out payment becomes too stingy.

Browse dictionary entries near stingy

  1. stingray
  2. stinging hair
  3. stinger
  4. stingaree
  5. sting
  6. stimy
  7. stimulus
  8. stimulating
  9. stimulated
  10. stimulate
  1. stink
  2. stink bomb
  3. stink bug
  4. stinker
  5. stinkhorn
  6. stinking
  7. stinking smut
  8. stinko
  9. stinkpot
  10. stinkstone