stingy Hear it!

stingy1 definition

stingy (stin′jē)

adjective stingier stin′·gier, stingiest 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

Related Forms:

stingy2 definition

stingy (stiŋ′ē)

adjective

stinging or capable of stinging

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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?

Modifies a noun

  • portion: Also, with the tomato coming in rather a stingy portion there is very little moisture from the fillings either.

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!

Used with adjective complement

  • seem: Article continues The Blairs have always seemed stingy in a way that only the British middle class can be.
stingy usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

Link to this page:

Cite this page:

MLA Style

"stingy." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/stingy>

APA Style

stingy. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/stingy

Comments:

Please or Register to post a comment