costive

Definition of costivenext

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of costive In fact, their writings are more pungent now that they have been liberated from the costive confines of the movement. Jacob Heilbrunn, The New Republic, 23 Jan. 2020 Movies coiled up in other movies have a habit of becoming either costive or cute, but somehow Falardeau avoids the traps. Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 15 May 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for costive
Adjective
  • The Marlins of course notoriously are among baseball’s cheapest teams, led by penurious owner Bruce Sherman.
    Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 5 Aug. 2026
  • There’s a cast of wanderers, visionaries, and itinerants, the self-educated and self-published, a long lineage of cranks and outcasts, mostly penurious, always opinionated, stretching away into the mists of pseudohistory.
    Hari Kunzru, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
  • Plus, no other app is as ungenerous with unblurred photos as eharmony.
    Jordan Minor, PC Magazine, 29 July 2026
  • Bad motives are easy to find Sometimes ungenerous motives can help people to be generous.
    Mark Schroeder, The Conversation, 15 July 2026
Adjective
  • This one seemed slow and turgid, and the Australian attack was parsimonious, with only the sixth bowler used, Ash Gardner, going at more than 10 runs an over in her three overs.
    Paul Newman, New York Times, 5 July 2026
  • This is the most parsimonious way to account for the unified nature of consciousness, according to subcorticalists.
    Cody Cottier, Scientific American, 28 May 2026
Adjective
  • The plot involves two sons of rich, miserly fathers in love with girls their fathers will never approve of and what happens when the fathers’ devious servants decide to give the boys a hand.
    Lonnie Burstein Hewitt, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 July 2026
  • The already rich reap the most, though the thin spreading of payments means the payouts are relatively miserly for the game’s elite.
    Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 21 July 2026
Adjective
  • Both make token contributions to efforts to support Ukraine, often for selfish reasons.
    Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Not because this generation is somehow softer or more selfish.
    Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 18 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • Accusing investors of not tracking the misses may be uncharitable.
    Henrik Landgren, Fortune, 29 July 2026
  • In the years since it was announced, the economics of college football have grown increasingly uncharitable for programs like the Mustangs, an FCS team that plays its home games in an 11,000-seat stadium and last had a winning season in 2016.
    Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 23 July 2026
Adjective
  • This goes with countless ingredients that people just get too stingy with—including butter, cheese, garlic, and more.
    Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Burton was not nearly as flashy, but still found ways to score against a stingy Minnesota defense, pulling the Valkyries within single digits while playing every minute of the second half.
    Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 20 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • Dobie’s cantankerous, tightfisted father and sweet, harebrained mother were played by the characters actors Frank Faylen and Florida Friebus.
    Margalit Fox, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2022
  • The ambience reflects Hankey’s tightfisted approach to his seven companies, which include a Toyota dealership, a dealer management software developer and Midway Car Rental, which does a big business renting exotic cars.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2021

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Cite this Entry

“Costive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/costive. Accessed 27 Aug. 2026.

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