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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Delivering presents and spreading good cheer is not selfish Scott’s idea of a high calling, although the prospect of working only one day a year has its enticements.—
Duane Byrge,
HollywoodReporter,
11 Nov. 2025
-
Sometimes those selfish people create progress.—
Kevin Sintumuang,
Outside,
6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Be careful when handling debris that may have blown into your yard.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
7 Nov. 2025
-
Step by careful step, Holbrook climbed, holding out bologna and cheese until two pairs of cautious eyes peeked back.—
Ashley Vega,
PEOPLE,
7 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
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
-
To be clear, most of the blame for this climate crisis goes to the greedy fossil fuel executives and big agriculture executives, their greenwashing PR firms, and the politicians in their pockets.—
Ayana Elizabeth Johnson,
Time,
4 Nov. 2025
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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
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
-
Chelsea are famously parsimonious in the transfer market, after all.—
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
21 Aug. 2025
-
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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Under Mikel Arteta, they have been held up as the archetypes of this anti-style; the best set-piece team in the league, with its stingiest defence.—
Jacob Whitehead,
New York Times,
10 Nov. 2025
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It was rumored that the Yankees were particularly stingy about the idea of moving Jones at the July trade deadline.—
Jackson Roberts,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ungenerous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ungenerous. Accessed 19 Nov. 2025.
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