STINGY (stingier, stingiest)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: stingier    , stingiest   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does stingy mean? 

• STINGY (adjective)
  The adjective STINGY has 2 senses:

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

2. deficient in amount or quality or extent

  Familiarity information: STINGY used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• STINGY (adjective)

Comparative: stingier   
Superlative: stingiest   

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Synonyms:

stingy; ungenerous

Context example:

an ungenerous response to the appeal for funds

Similar:

beggarly; mean ((used of sums of money) so small in amount as to deserve contempt)

cheap; chinchy; chintzy (embarrassingly stingy)

cheeseparing; close; near; penny-pinching; skinny (giving or spending with reluctance)

closefisted; hardfisted; tightfisted (unwilling to part with money)

grudging; niggardly; scrimy (petty or reluctant in giving or spending)

mean; mingy; miserly; tight ((used of persons or behavior) characterized by or indicative of lack of generosity)

parsimonious; penurious (excessively unwilling to spend)

Also:

selfish (concerned chiefly or only with yourself and your advantage to the exclusion of others)

meanspirited; ungenerous (lacking in magnanimity)

uncharitable (lacking love and generosity)

Attribute:

generosity; generousness (the trait of being willing to give your money or time)

Antonym:

generous (willing to give and share unstintingly)

Derivation:

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

Deficient in amount or quality or extent

Synonyms:

meager; meagerly; meagre; scrimpy; stingy

Context example:

meager fare

Similar:

bare; scanty; spare (lacking in magnitude or quantity)

exiguous (extremely scanty)

hand-to-mouth (providing only bare essentials)

hardscrabble (barely satisfying a lower standard)

measly; miserable; paltry (contemptibly small in amount)

Also:

scarce (deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand)

minimal; minimum (the least possible)

deficient; insufficient (of a quantity not able to fulfill a need or requirement)

Attribute:

adequacy; sufficiency (the quality of being sufficient for the end in view)

 Context examples 

Everyone you met seemed to be stingy or tight fisted when it came to compensation for you.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

It seems stingy, to my notions, and dry, and unfriendly.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)