Ebenezer

American  

[eb-uh-nee-zer] / ˌɛb əˈni zər /

noun

1. a male given name: from a Hebrew word meaning “stone of help.”

---

Usage

What does Ebenezer mean? Ebenezer is a proper name that is perhaps best known as the name of Ebenezer Scrooge, the greedy old guy from Charles Dickens’ short novel A Christmas Carol.In this sense, Ebenezer (or ebenezer) is sometimes used as a term for someone who is especially greedy, or someone who grumpily refuses to participate in Christmastime festivities, as in Only an Ebenezer like you would cancel the toy drive. However, it’s his last name, Scrooge, that’s much more commonly used as a term for such people (often in lowercase as scrooge).Ebenezer also has two other uses. It can refer to a kind of memorial or commemoration of God’s help, especially a stone memorial or a kind of altar. It is also used as a slang word referring to anger or one’s temper, especially in phrases like get your ebenezer up or raise your ebenezer, though it’s now very rarely used in this way.

Example Sentences

We’ll keep it breezy, useful and real, because, as we’ve learned, most people are just trying to get a little better with their money without turning into day traders or Ebenezer Scrooge.

From MarketWatch

Everyone knows the story of Ebenezer Scrooge — his name has become synonymous with Christmastime crankiness, after all — his spectral former compatriot Jacob Marley and the three ghosts who appear on Christmas Eve to show Scrooge visions of his past, present and future.

From Salon

Pair that winning team with Williams’ tremendously campy performance as a fur-trimmed-leopard-print-wearing, her-way-or-the-highway, Capital-D diva, and you’ve got the ultimate reason why “A Christmas Carol” and Ebenezer Scrooge have maintained their relevance for 182 years.

From Salon

The iteration of Ebenezer must commit a heinous act of greed so avaricious that it triggers a supernatural event, and Jacob Marley comes clinking and clattering during the night to warn of a visit from three spirits.

From Salon

Ebenezer Scrooge has been left to manage their lucrative counting-house without his onetime partner.

From The Wall Street Journal