adjective
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niggardly with money
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lacking money or means
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yielding little; scanty
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of penurious
First recorded in 1590–1600; from Medieval Latin pēnūriōsus, from Latin paenūria, pēnūria penury + -ous ( def. )
Explanation
Don't have two nickels to rub together? You're penurious — a lovely long way of saying you're flat broke. Penurious also means a general dislike of spending money. If someone accuses you of being cheap, tell them you prefer to be thought of as penurious. It sounds so much classier. It's related to a similar word, penury, which means "a state of extreme poverty."
Vocabulary lists containing penurious
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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100 SAT words Beginning with "P"
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Never Enough: Synonyms for "Greedy"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Penurious student at a German university, Helene was also pretty�except for her capable hands, which were always stained with chemicals from the lab.
From Time Magazine Archive
Penurious as he was, he opened and distributed his hoards.
From The History of England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 2 by Macaulay, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron
Penurious Savings made by getting the Poor to work cheap.
From A Treatise on Domestic Economy For the Use of Young Ladies at Home and at School by Beecher, Catharine Esther
Penurious men and women, waiting to be relieved, stand grouped in the foreground.
From The Story of Seville by Hartley, C. Gasquoine (Catherine Gasquoine)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
