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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Recent Examples of ungenerous
Maybe that’s ungenerous, but my patience is running short with Adair.
—
Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 24 Mar. 2025
While the initial batch of second-quarter earnings reports has been met by generally ungenerous market responses, the numbers themselves are solid.
—Michael Santoli, CNBC, 20 July 2024
This very ungenerous person was complaining about the unkempt state of their neighbor’s home and yard.
—Amy Dickinson, Chicago Tribune, 11 June 2024
But neither can anyone seriously accuse the United States of being ungenerous with its citizens’ lives and treasure or of having no ideals.
—Joshua Landis, Foreign Affairs, 19 Jan. 2016
See All Example Sentences for ungenerous
Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 24 Mar. 2025
While the initial batch of second-quarter earnings reports has been met by generally ungenerous market responses, the numbers themselves are solid.
—Michael Santoli, CNBC, 20 July 2024
This very ungenerous person was complaining about the unkempt state of their neighbor’s home and yard.
—Amy Dickinson, Chicago Tribune, 11 June 2024
But neither can anyone seriously accuse the United States of being ungenerous with its citizens’ lives and treasure or of having no ideals.
—Joshua Landis, Foreign Affairs, 19 Jan. 2016
See All Example Sentences for ungenerous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ungenerous
Adjective
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After sharing his story online, commenters expressed sympathy for the boy’s situation, calling his father’s behavior selfish and neglectful.—
Ashley Vega,
PEOPLE,
27 Oct. 2025
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Expecting others to adapt to us is a selfish gesture that distorts the spirit of travel.—
Wilson Santiago Burgos,
USA Today,
26 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Those same records also showed that the only other purchases of BAM in the state of Colorado had been from the Colorado Parks and Wildlife agency and the National Parks Service — both of which maintained careful records of any use of the drug, per the indictment.—
Chris Spargo,
PEOPLE,
30 Oct. 2025
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Be careful when handling debris that may have blown into your yard.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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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
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That utilitarian descriptor may seem a bit uncharitable, but the fact is, the 2.0-liter, OHV inline-four is rugged, indefatigable and, making about 100 hp, sufficiently powerful to scoot the 2,100-pound roadster along at a nice pace.—
Robert Ross,
Robb Report,
29 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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But Septime Webre’s choreography is supposed to have the air of wild and sometimes frenzied social dancing, of Charlestons and Fox Trots and Black Bottoms, of indulging the glorious excesses of the 1920s before the greedier side of the American Dream comes crashing down a few years later.—
David Lyman,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
30 Oct. 2025
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Which is to say, this isn’t the story of a greedy, materialistic man who suffers a crisis of conscience while trying to pry a priceless treasure away from an uneducated hick who doesn’t know any better.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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While there have been many fine adaptations of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Alastair Sim's performance as the miserly, penny-pinching Ebenezer Scrooge elevates this version to must-see status.—
Steven Thrash,
Entertainment Weekly,
25 Oct. 2025
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Depp will play the titular role of Ebenezer Scrooge, a misanthropic and miserly businessman in 19th century London who is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future in an effort to save himself from an afterlife of torment.—
Adam B. Vary,
Variety,
23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Chelsea are famously parsimonious in the transfer market, after all.—
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
21 Aug. 2025
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Wimpy was a mild-mannered, soft-spoken, lazy, parsimonious, and utterly gluttonous hamburger-wolfing straight man to Popeye.—
Richard Lederer,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
19 July 2025
Adjective
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But both are gone because neither could make magic of Sherman’s low-spending model that still includes the most penurious payroll in MLB in 2025.—
Greg Cote
July 16,
Miami Herald,
16 July 2025
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Even so, the general picture of a mother’s absence and a daughter’s understandable resentment at having had to pick up the maternal slack in penurious conditions comes through loud and clear.—
Charles McNulty,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Sep. 2024
Adjective
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Bobrovsky has been even stingier during Florida’s recent run to back-to-back titles, notching five shutouts over his past six playoff series.—
Julian McKenzie,
New York Times,
26 Oct. 2025
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Cumdumpster, by contrast, was brusque, peremptory, and stingy with his scores, as if I’d been put on earth to curate pornography for him.—
Daniel Kolitz,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ungenerous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ungenerous. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
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