ˌən-ˈjen-rəs
as in selfish
giving or sharing as little as possible
it is ungenerous for someone of his ample means not to provide more for the care of his aging parents
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ungenerous
Unkindness and people being ungenerous.
—
Maria Bamford, Vulture, 26 Nov. 2025
At least with Derrick, the shallowness seems intentional, if ungenerous.
—Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 13 June 2025
But, even though there was nothing the slightest bit ungracious or ungenerous about her performance, it was felt more like the audience being asked to come to her.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 26 Apr. 2025
Perhaps most perplexing about Smash, though, is its weirdly cynical, ungenerous take on the Bombshell herself.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 10 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ungenerous
Maria Bamford, Vulture, 26 Nov. 2025
At least with Derrick, the shallowness seems intentional, if ungenerous.
—Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 13 June 2025
But, even though there was nothing the slightest bit ungracious or ungenerous about her performance, it was felt more like the audience being asked to come to her.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 26 Apr. 2025
Perhaps most perplexing about Smash, though, is its weirdly cynical, ungenerous take on the Bombshell herself.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 10 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ungenerous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ungenerous
Adjective
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Games like the snowdrift problem are a way to explore this puzzle using simple math, with the aim of figuring out how a bunch of selfish individuals add up to a coherent society.—
Joseph Howlett,
Scientific American,
23 Feb. 2026
-
Real people are complicated and selfish.—
David Colman,
HollywoodReporter,
23 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Be careful when handling debris that may have blown into your yard.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
28 Feb. 2026
-
To make the most of spring planting, start with site preparation and careful plant selection.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
28 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Recall that Huffines unsuccessfully challenged Abbott in the 2022 GOP primary for governor and had some uncharitable things to say about him.—
John C. Moritz,
Austin American Statesman,
15 Feb. 2026
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The only way to get to that conclusion, however, is to make a lot of uncharitable assumptions about Kimmel’s thinking.—
Josef Adalian,
Vulture,
18 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The administration would like the public to believe these buildings are deteriorating because greedy landlords refuse to reinvest rent revenue.—
Kenny Burgos,
New York Daily News,
26 Feb. 2026
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Dummymanders also happen when a party has a great deal of control and gets greedy, the journalist Alan Greenblatt wrote last year.—
David A. Graham,
The Atlantic,
23 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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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
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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
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But the parsimonious Lady Featherington (Polly Walker) gives Varly her old hideous yellow and green dresses instead of a raise (this is clearly the Regency-era equivalent of the office pizza party).—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
29 Jan. 2026
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The latter offers a more judicious form of clemency, but only on a parsimonious, individual basis.—
Bernadette Meyler,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 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
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Then the usually penurious Indians suddenly splurged.—
Chuck Murr,
Forbes.com,
19 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Compared with other cities, the model was less likely to associate Austin with being boring, stingy or unfriendly.—
Dante Motley,
Austin American Statesman,
26 Feb. 2026
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Poly’s stingy defense and a pair of key buckets from Smothers helped the Engineers go on a prolonged 7-0 run that extended their lead to 13 late before a 3-pointer from Elliott with about three minutes to go proved to be the dagger in Poly’s 16-point victory.—
Nicky Wolcott,
Baltimore Sun,
25 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ungenerous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ungenerous. Accessed 3 Mar. 2026.
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