Meanings
comparative more miserly · superlative most miserly
- Like a miser, very or objectionably cautious with money.
miserly offer
5 more examples
miserly habits
He had a miserly attitude toward spending money.
They lived under miserly conditions despite their wealth.
It's something that worries me about the book I'm doing about him... In some ways he's just like the racist caricature of the miserly old Jew.
1991, Art Spiegelman, Maus I: My Father Bleeds History, New York: Pantheon Books, page 131What could be more selfish, more miserly—this in specific is what gnaws at him—than dying childless, terminating the line, subtracting oneself from the great work of generation? Worse than miserly, in fact: unnatural.
2005, J. M. Coetzee, “Three”, in Slow Man, New York: Viking, →ISBN, page 20Synonyms: as tight as Dick's hatband, cheap, cheeseparing, chintzy, close, close as wax, close-fisted, illiberal
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveLike a miser, very or objectionably cautious with money.
More synonyms by meaning
adjective(used of persons or behavior) characterized by or indicative of lack of generosity
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From miser + -ly, attested from the 1540s.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek φειδωλός
- φειδωλός (pheidōlós)stingy
Arabic بَخِيل
- بَخِيل (baḵīl)stingy
Bulgarian стиснат, скъпернически
- стиснат (stisnat)stingy
- скъпернически (skăperničeski)stingy
Chinese Mandarin 吝嗇 /吝啬, 小氣 /小气
- 吝嗇 /吝啬 (lìnsè)stingy
- 小氣 /小气 (xiǎoqì)stingy
- 摳門 /抠门 (kōumén)stingy
- 摳 /抠 (kōu)stingy
Czech lakomý
- lakomýstingy
Danish gnieragtig, gerrig
- gnieragtigstingy
- gerrigstingy
- nærigstingy
Esperanto avarula
- avarulastingy
Finnish saita, itara
- saitastingy
- itarastingy
- pihistingy
- nuukastingy
French avare, pingre
- avarestingy
- pingrestingy
- chichestingy
- radinstingy
German geizig, knauserig
- geizigstingy
- knauserigstingy
- knausrigstingy
- gierigstingy
Hindi कंजूस
- कंजूस (kañjūs)stingy
Irish ocrach, sprionlaithe
- ocrachstingy
- sprionlaithestingy
Italian avaro, tirchio
- avarostingy
- tirchiostingy
Japanese けちな, 吝嗇な
- けちな (kechi na)stingy
- 吝嗇な (rinshoku na)stingy
Korean 인색한, 인색하다
- 인색한 (insaek-han)stingy
- 인색하다 (insaek-hada)stingy
Persian خسیس
- خسیس (xasis)stingy
Polish skąpy
- skąpystingy
Portuguese mesquinho, pão-duro
- mesquinhostingy
- pão-durostingy
Romanian ciufút
- ciufútstingy
Russian скупо́й, ска́редный
- скупо́й (skupój)stingy
- ска́редный (skárednyj)stingy
- жа́дный (žádnyj)stingy
- прижи́мистый (prižímistyj)stingy
Slovak lakomý, skúpy
- lakomýstingy
- skúpystingy
Spanish mezquino, tacaño
- mezquinostingy
- tacañostingy
- míserostingy
- peseterostingy
- roñosostingy
- cicaterostingy
- pilinquestingy
- pilinquistingy
- pilishnestingy
- cerracatínstingy
- enduradorstingy
Urdu کنجوس
- کنجوس (kañjūs)stingy
Vietnamese bo bo như thần giữ của
- bo bo như thần giữ củastingy
Yiddish קמצניש
- קמצניש (kamtsonish)stingy
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
miserly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/miserly
“miserly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/miserly. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “miserly,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/miserly.
Source: miserly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.