Definition of STINGY

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 of stingy from the Web

It was seen as a stingy policy, and the party has now scrapped the idea.

— alex morales, Bloomberg.com, "These Charts Show Why Brits Are Furious About Austerity", 5 July 2017
A recent NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found that only 10 percent of Republicans want Congress to reform Obamacare into a stingier program — which is precisely what Mitch McConnell aims to do.

— eric levitz, Daily Intelligencer, "Voters Encourage Trumpcare’s Republican Opponents to ‘Stay Strong’", 5 July 2017
Yet the House bill, with its stingy benefits and destruction of the ACA exchanges, makes no provision for this.

— jon talton, The Seattle Times, "No wonder Senate kept health bill under wraps", 24 June 2017
Stingier reimbursements might discourage health care providers from accepting Medicaid patients at all.

— john tozzi, Bloomberg.com, "How Republican Medicaid Caps Could Hurt Millions", 22 June 2017
In addition to anchoring the stingiest defense in the National Women's Soccer League, Short has emerged as a potential future star for the national team.

— matt le cren, Naperville Sun, "Naperville native Casey Short excels for Red Stars, U.S. national team", 22 June 2017
Screenwriter Aubrey Nealon is masterfully stingy with the script, carefully doling out information about Cardinal and other characters in very small but tantalizing doses.

— david wiegand, star-telegram, "Multiple mysteries keep ‘Cardinal’ flying on Hulu", 12 June 2017
On the strength of stingy starts by CC Sabathia and Pineda, the Yankees outscored Boston 17-1 in the final two games and increased their AL East lead to three games over the second-place Red Sox.

— mike fitzpatrick, courant.com, "Sanchez, Yankees Hammer Price Again In 9-1 Win Over Red Sox", 8 June 2017
Credit Rinne for coming through with a stingy performance and helping the Predators improve to 8-1 at home this postseason.

— ap, USA TODAY, "Preds rout Pens 5-1, pull within 2-1 in Stanley Cup Final", 3 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'stingy'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of stingy

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

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First Known Use: 1659

See Words from the same year

stingy Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of 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

stingy