as in parsimonious
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Recent Examples of penny-wise
Cutting these services is the very definition of being penny-wise and pound-foolish.
—
Mona Darwish, Oc Register, 6 May 2026
That led to the penny-wise, pound-foolish path of appeasement.
—Matt Robison, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Sep. 2025
Undermining Bayh-Dole to scrape together a billion or two in revenue would be penny-wise and pound-foolish.
—Sally Pipes, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
In fiscal terms, the budget cuts are penny-wise and galactically foolish.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2025
But even if successful, such an effort would likely be penny-wise and pound-foolish, leading U.S. allies to turn away from Washington in the long term.
—Stephen G. Brooks, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2025
Cheap graphics cards are penny-wise but dollar-foolish for gaming PCs.
—Brad Bourque, Wired News, 9 Aug. 2024
Having these tenants lose their apartments and become homeless is penny-wise and pound-foolish.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 20 Feb. 2024
Mona Darwish, Oc Register, 6 May 2026
That led to the penny-wise, pound-foolish path of appeasement.
—Matt Robison, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Sep. 2025
Undermining Bayh-Dole to scrape together a billion or two in revenue would be penny-wise and pound-foolish.
—Sally Pipes, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
In fiscal terms, the budget cuts are penny-wise and galactically foolish.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2025
But even if successful, such an effort would likely be penny-wise and pound-foolish, leading U.S. allies to turn away from Washington in the long term.
—Stephen G. Brooks, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2025
Cheap graphics cards are penny-wise but dollar-foolish for gaming PCs.
—Brad Bourque, Wired News, 9 Aug. 2024
Having these tenants lose their apartments and become homeless is penny-wise and pound-foolish.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 20 Feb. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for penny-wise
Adjective
-
This is the most parsimonious way to account for the unified nature of consciousness, according to subcorticalists.—
Cody Cottier,
Scientific American,
28 May 2026
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What fraction visible at basically every U.S. gas station originated as a parsimonious response to a 1932 one-penny gas tax?—
Drew Goins,
The Atlantic,
27 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Koenig’s former Yankees teammates were contemptuous of that miserly decision.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 June 2026
-
The film is set in Mumbai and built around a miserly protagonist whose circumstances spiral into escalating absurdity.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
21 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Every year, a complacent, tightfisted city council turned down the recommendations.—
Margaret Talbot,
The New Yorker,
2 Oct. 2023
-
Kotick played the tightfisted owner of the Oakland A’s.—
Cynthia Littleton,
Variety,
31 May 2023
Adjective
-
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
-
Then the usually penurious Indians suddenly splurged.—
Chuck Murr,
Forbes.com,
19 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Although it’s been made it was made on a frugal budget, none of that diminishes the power and enjoyment of this original and inspired indie from a team that just keeps making one good genre film after another.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
8 June 2026
-
Super frugal use of memory bandwidth, caching exactly what is needed & squeezing microseconds out of everything are needed to maintain the frame rate.—
Jack Ewing,
New York Times,
2 June 2026
Adjective
-
The most thrifty setting allows conservation of charge for use on the mountain playground.—
Mark Ewing,
Forbes.com,
20 May 2026
-
Still, the stereotype of the Spirit customer was not of a traveller cowed by a need to be thrifty.—
Doreen St. Félix,
New Yorker,
9 May 2026
Adjective
-
Sparks end a three-game losing streak with an 89-72 win over expansion Portland, delivering their stingiest defensive performance of the season.—
Marisa Ingemi,
Los Angeles Times,
8 June 2026
-
Give full answers, and don’t be stingy with detail.—
Phil Blair,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 June 2026
Adjective
-
The problem is that powering up the engines, idling them, and then using their massive power just to trundle around the tarmac is scarcely economical.—
David Szondy
June 07,
New Atlas,
7 June 2026
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Over time, broader adoption across the automotive industry is expected to drive down battery costs, making flying cars more economical to operate and opening the door to wider commercial use.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
7 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Penny-wise.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/penny-wise. Accessed 13 Jun. 2026.
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