penurious

  • 1Penurious — Pe*nu ri*ous, a. [From {Penury}.] 1. Excessively sparing in the use of money; sordid; stingy; miserly. A penurious niggard of his wealth. Milton. [1913 Webster] 2. Not bountiful or liberal; scanty. [1913 Webster] Here creeps along a poor,… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2penurious — I adjective chary, cheap, churlish, close, close fisted, close handed, frugal, greedy, grudging, illiberal, impoverished, in distress, in need, in want, indigent, mean, mercenary, miserly, needy, niggard, niggardly, nonpaying, parsimonious,… …

    Law dictionary

  • 3penurious — 1590s, from M.L. penuriosus, from L. penuria penury (see PENURY (Cf. penury)). Originally poverty stricken, in a state of penury; meaning stingy is first attested 1630s …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 4penurious — parsimonious, niggardly, *stingy, close, close fisted, tight, tightfisted, miserly, cheeseparing, penny pinching Analogous words: avaricious, grasping, greedy, *covetous: *mercenary, venal: *mean, abject, sordid, ignoble …

    New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 5penurious — [adj] stingy avaricious, cheap, chintzy*, close fisted, costive, curmudgeonly, economical, frugal, greedy, hoarding, miserly, parsimonious, penny pinching, pennywise*, pinchpenny*, saving, scrimping, sparing, thrifty, tightfisted, uncharitable,… …

    New thesaurus

  • 6penurious — ► ADJECTIVE formal 1) extremely poor. 2) parsimonious. DERIVATIVES penuriously adverb …

    English terms dictionary

  • 7penurious — [pe nyoor′ē əs, penoor′ē əs] adj. [ML penuriosus < L penuria: see PENURY] 1. unwilling to part with money or possessions; mean; miserly; stingy 2. characterized by extreme poverty; impoverished SYN. STINGY1 penuriously adv. penuriousness n …

    English World dictionary

  • 8penurious — adjective a) Miserly; excessively cheap. The old man died a penurious wretch; eighty thousand dollars in the mattress and as many holes in the roof. b) Not bountiful; thin; scant. The penurious stew would have been more accurately labelled broth …

    Wiktionary

  • 9penurious — adjective, formal 1) a penurious student Syn: poor, poor as a church mouse, poverty stricken, destitute, necessitous, impecunious, impoverished, indigent, needy, in need/want, badly off, in reduced/straitened circumstances, hard up, u …

    Thesaurus of popular words

  • 10penurious — adjective Date: 1590 1. marked by or suffering from penury 2. given to or marked by extreme stinting frugality Synonyms: see stingy • penuriously adverb • penuriousness noun …

    New Collegiate Dictionary