stingy

adjective

stin·​gy ˈstin-jē 

stingier; stingiest

1

: not generous or liberal : sparing or scant in using, giving, or spending

stingy with the salt

stingy employee benefits

2

: meanly scanty or small

stingy portions of meat

stingily

ˈstin-jə-lē 

adverb

stinginess

ˈstin-jē-nəs 

noun

Synonyms

• cheap
• chintzy
• close
• closefisted
• mean
• mingy
• miserly
• niggard
• niggardly
• parsimonious
• penny-pinching
• penurious
• pinching
• pinchpenny
• spare
• sparing
• stinting
• tight
• tightfisted
• uncharitable
• ungenerous

Choose the Right Synonym for stingy

stingy, close, niggardly, parsimonious, penurious, miserly mean being unwilling or showing unwillingness to share with others.

stingy implies a marked lack of generosity.

a stingy child, not given to sharing

close suggests keeping a tight grip on one's money and possessions.

folks who are very close when charity calls

niggardly implies giving or spending the very smallest amount possible.

the niggardly amount budgeted for the town library

parsimonious suggests a frugality so extreme as to lead to stinginess.

a parsimonious lifestyle notably lacking in luxuries

penurious implies niggardliness that gives an appearance of actual poverty.

the penurious eccentric bequeathed a fortune

miserly suggests a sordid avariciousness and a morbid pleasure in hoarding.

a miserly couple devoid of social conscience

Examples of stingy in a Sentence

The company was too stingy to raise salaries.

until his redemption, Ebenezer Scrooge is the classic example of a very stingy, heartless miser

Recent Examples on the Web

After being the Big West freshman of the year for UC Irvine during the 2020-21 season, Williams was named Pac-12 all-defensive honorable mention last year when the Trojans used the program’s stingiest scoring defense in history to return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2014. —Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2024

Part of the challenge for Long Beach was trying to beat a UCI team that hadn’t lost at home in more than a calendar year and attempting to score against the stingiest defense in the conference (67.4 ppg). —Dan Arritt, Orange County Register, 5 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

perhaps from English dialect *stinge, noun, sting; akin to Old English stingan to sting

First Known Use

1659, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

stingy

adjective

stin·​gy ˈstin-jē 

stingier; stingiest

1

: not generous : giving, using, or spending as little as possible

2

: scanty, meager

a stingy portion

stingily

-jə-lē 

adverb

stinginess

-jē-nəs 

noun