tightwad
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of tightwad
Explanation
A tightwad is someone who avoids spending money, like a relative who wraps a piece of junk from the basement in used wrapping paper and gives it to you, even though he or she could afford to buy you a nice birthday present. The “tight” part of this word refers to “close-fisted.” It’ll help you remember the meaning of tightwad if you picture a person with his fist tightly closed around a wad of money, not giving it up for anyone or anything. A tightwad takes being merely frugal or careful with money to a whole new level. It's not that tightwads are poor; they simply hate to part with their money, even if it's just a single dollar.
Vocabulary lists containing tightwad
Merci Suárez Changes Gears
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The Ear, the Eye and the Arm
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Vocabulary Video Contest (2013) - List 2
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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.
The indictment alleges that Brown, two known co-conspirators and others, excavated archeological items from federal land at Truman Lake near the town of Tightwad, Missouri, at least 10 times from June 2016 through September.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 15, 2022
By the time Lavon Coleman had galloped 49 yards for the Huskies’ ninth and final touchdown of the night, the freeloaders watching the game on Tightwad Hill probably felt they had overpaid.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 6, 2016
Nor is he into the extreme home craft of The Tightwad Gazette, the newsletter from the nineties, which recommended that readers make their kids’ Halloween masks out of dryer lint.
From The New Yorker • Feb. 29, 2016
Q. Charity Tightwad: I am trying to instill in my young children the importance of being generous and empathic to others in need, but during the holidays I feel like such a hypocrite.
From Slate • Dec. 1, 2015
Old Alden P. Tightwad, the prince of misers!
From Cappy Ricks Retires by Kyne, Peter B. (Peter Bernard)
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.
