Meanings
comparative more penny-pinching · superlative most penny-pinching · alternative pennypinching
- reluctant to spend money; close-fisted
If there is an overall lesson, it is that train quality should be seen as part of the battle against climate change, with penny-pinching specifications robustly opposed as a false economy.
2021 July 14, Anthony Lambert, “Grand designs on superior interiors”, in SAIL, number 935, page 49
plural penny-pinchings · alternative pennypinching
- countableuncountablereluctance to spend money; thrift or parsimony; extreme economy.
Synonyms: pinching pennies
Synonyms & antonyms
nounreluctance to spend money; thrift or parsimony; extreme economy.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivegiving or spending with reluctance
nounextreme care in spending money; reluctance to spend money unnecessarily
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Italian taccagno, spilorcio
- taccagnoreluctant to spend money
- spilorcioreluctant to spend money
- taccagneriareluctance to spend money
- spilorceriareluctance to spend money
Russian прижи́мистый
- прижи́мистый (prižímistyj)reluctant to spend money
Cite this entry
penny-pinching. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/penny-pinching
“penny-pinching.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/penny-pinching. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “penny-pinching,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/penny-pinching.
Source: penny-pinching on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.