Meanings
plural skinflints
- One who is excessively stingy or cautious with money.
You know, he is quite a different sort from the Public Prosecutor and our other provincial skinflints--fellows who shiver in their shoes before they will spend a single kopeck.
1842, Gogol, Dead Souls, chapter 4Synonyms: nickel-shaver, tightwad, miser, carl, cheapass, cheapie, cheapskate, cheapo
Synonyms & antonyms
nounOne who is excessively stingy or cautious with money.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From the phrase skin a flint (“go to extreme lengths for the sake of gain or economy”), from the brittleness and hardness of flint which makes it almost impossible to remove just its skin without shattering it.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Polish kutwa, sknera
- kutwamiser
- skneramiser
- sknerusmiser
- skąpiecmiser
- dusigroszmiser
Cite this entry
skinflint. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skinflint
“skinflint.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skinflint. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “skinflint,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skinflint.
Source: skinflint on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.