as in miserly
giving or sharing as little as possible
the company is pretty tightfisted when it comes to bonuses
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Recent Examples of tightfisted
Diplomats from neighboring countries, Afghans overseas and U.N. officials have all called on the United States to relax its tightfisted approach.
—
Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 22 June 2022
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, 27 Sep. 2021
The Heiress Hunt is about two strong-willed individuals learning to wrest the tightfisted control that has dictated their lives (and their success).
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 1 Apr. 2021
See All Example Sentences for tightfisted
Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 22 June 2022
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, 27 Sep. 2021
The Heiress Hunt is about two strong-willed individuals learning to wrest the tightfisted control that has dictated their lives (and their success).
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 1 Apr. 2021
See All Example Sentences for tightfisted
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tightfisted
Adjective
-
Como had been neck-and-neck with Roma’s miserly backline before shipping four at Inter last Saturday, a chastening defeat that ended an unbeaten run stretching back to the end of August.—
Jack Bantock,
New York Times,
12 Dec. 2025
-
In this version, miserly Madame Eleanor is visited by the ghost former business partner Jacob Marley as well as a few other apparitions.—
Christopher Smith,
Oc Register,
26 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
People being selfish, people being greedy, people murdering other people, people kidnapping other people, taking advantage of women, people taking advantage of children, all of this awful stuff.—
Katie Campione,
Deadline,
2 Mar. 2026
-
Other teams — notably the Danes, the Italians and the Americans — decided to let the greedier bunch scrap for the same optimum position on the line.—
Andrew Rice,
New York Times,
1 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Stellan Skarsgård plays an aging filmmaker whose selfish past led to an estrangement from his daughters and who wants to make a movie inspired by their mom.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
8 Mar. 2026
-
The moment causes Byron, a selfish and braggadocious villain, to have a change of heart, stopping shipments of The Beauty and paying off the families ravaged by its gruesome side effects, like Bella’s.—
Hunter Ingram,
Variety,
5 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The financial rewards accrued from streaming and downloading have been parsimonious.—
Thomas Doherty,
HollywoodReporter,
28 Feb. 2026
-
Jerry Reinsdorf, who traditionally has been parsimonious with both the Bulls and the ChiSox, isn’t about to kick in another $116 million.—
Dan Freedman,
Forbes.com,
23 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Your deceptive advertising and stingy preparation cost you some customers.—
Ticked Off,
The Orlando Sentinel,
5 Mar. 2026
-
Thankfully, the team’s second line with Alex DeBrincat, Andrew Copp and Patrick Kane is crushing its competition, which, in conjunction with the club’s stingy defensive results, has helped Detroit keep winning games.—
Harman Dayal,
New York Times,
2 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
There’s an ungenerous and shallow way to look at this film as little more than a highlight reel of Hammer’s work, a paltry substitute for actually spending meaningful time with the work itself.—
Sam Bodrojan,
IndieWire,
24 Jan. 2026
-
Stars and billionaires are calling out the super-rich for being ungenerous As the world mints hundreds of thousands of millionaires yearly and billionaire wealth soars to record highs, some leaders can’t stand to stay quiet.—
Emma Burleigh,
Fortune,
21 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
However, the buzz of the lobby and tight spaces throughout could make getting around the hotel a bit straining for those who require accessibility assistance.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
11 Mar. 2026
-
While the Heat are playing in a tight battle for postseason seeding, the Wizards continue in their race to the bottom, in a bid to firm up their lottery odds.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
10 Mar. 2026
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
Cite this Entry
“Tightfisted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tightfisted. Accessed 13 Mar. 2026.
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