PARSIMONY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does parsimony mean? 

• PARSIMONY (noun)
  The noun PARSIMONY has 2 senses:

1. extreme care in spending money; reluctance to spend money unnecessarily

2. extreme stinginess

  Familiarity information: PARSIMONY used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PARSIMONY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Extreme care in spending money; reluctance to spend money unnecessarily

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

parsimoniousness; parsimony; penny-pinching; thrift

Hypernyms ("parsimony" is a kind of...):

frugality; frugalness (prudence in avoiding waste)

Derivation:

parsimonious (excessively unwilling to spend)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Extreme stinginess

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

closeness; meanness; minginess; niggardliness; niggardness; parsimoniousness; parsimony; tightfistedness; tightness

Hypernyms ("parsimony" is a kind of...):

stinginess (a lack of generosity; a general unwillingness to part with money)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "parsimony"):

littleness; pettiness; smallness (lack of generosity in trifling matters)

miserliness (total lack of generosity with money)

Derivation:

parsimonious (excessively unwilling to spend)

 Context examples 

Beginning here, as though regretting her parsimony, Nature had spread his features with a lavish hand.

(White Fang, by Jack London)