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stingy

adjective

Simple meaning

Unwilling to spend.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

stinjee

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈstɪndʒi

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. Unwilling to spend (money, time, resources, etc.)

    “She practices economy without being stingy.”

  2. Unwilling to spend, give, or share; ungenerous; mean.

  3. informal

    Stinging; able or inclined to sting.

  4. Small, scant, meager, insufficient.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Frequency
Rare
Typical Use
Primarily written

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Unwilling to spend (money, time, resources, etc.)

Used this way, stingy is a common word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It keeps things gentle rather than emphatic.

Heard in a sentence
“She practices economy without being stingy.”
Emotional tone
Negative
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Gentle
How common
Common
Connotation
Serious and weighty
Usage feel
Understated and gentle

Nearby words

  • tightfisted , rarer, so it draws attention
  • chintzy , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use stingy

  • “She practices economy without being stingy.”adjective

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

stingy personstingy nature

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

  • tight

    Short of money.

  • penurious

    Impoverished; wanting for money.

  • miserly

    Like a miser, very or objectionably cautious with money.

  • grudging

    Unwilling or with reluctance.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • stingernounPerson or profession

    A cocktail made of made of creme de menthe and brandy.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: unwilling to spend (money or time or resources

tightfistedRare

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.