miser

[ mahy-zer ]
See synonyms for miser on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a person who lives in wretched circumstances in order to save and hoard money.

  2. a stingy, avaricious person.

  1. Obsolete. a wretched or unhappy person.

Origin of miser

1
1535–45; <Latin: wretched

Other words for miser

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use miser in a sentence

  • His very smile was cunning, as if he had been studying smiles among the portraits of his misers.

    Our Mutual Friend | Charles Dickens
  • When the task was done, Mr Boffin, with his appetite for Misers whetted instead of satiated, began to look out again.

    Our Mutual Friend | Charles Dickens
  • Let the old Misers stores be all expos'd, and made the Soldiers Prey!

    The Female Wits | Anonymous
  • There are men who are misers, and also spendthrifts; but they are rare.

    Orthodoxy | G. K. Chesterton
  • Up there somewhere was another colony of winged misers and their hoarded wealth of honey.

    The Heritage of the Hills | Arthur P. Hankins

British Dictionary definitions for miser (1 of 2)

miser1

/ (ˈmaɪzə) /


noun
  1. a person who hoards money or possessions, often living miserably

  2. selfish person

Origin of miser

1
C16: from Latin: wretched

British Dictionary definitions for miser (2 of 2)

miser2

/ (ˈmaɪzə) /


noun
  1. civil engineering a large hand-operated auger used for loose soils

Origin of miser

2
C19: origin unknown

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012