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definitions

miserly

[mahy-zer-lee]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR miserly ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

of, like, or befitting a miser; penurious; stingy; niggardly.

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RELATED WORDS

tightfisted, abject, avaricious, beggarly, churlish, close, covetous, grasping, ignoble, illiberal, mean, parsimonious, penny-pinching, penurious, skinflint, sordid, ungenerous, cheapskate, close-fisted

Origin of miserly

First recorded in 1585–95; miser + -ly
Related formsmi·ser·li·ness, nounun·mi·ser·ly, adjective

Synonyms for miserly

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR miserly ON THESAURUS.COM
cheap, parsimonious.

Synonym study

See stingy1.

Antonyms for miserly

generous.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for miserly

Contemporary Examples of miserly

Historical Examples of miserly

  • It'll cost him more than he'll ever get from my miserly uncle to repair it.

    Brave and Bold

    Horatio Alger

  • I admired her charms, and I was delighted to see that she was not miserly in their display.

    The Memoires of Casanova, Complete

    Jacques Casanova de Seingalt

  • Ruth remembered what Roberto had said about his miserly grandmother.

  • Ruth Fielding was an orphan and came to live with her miserly uncle.

  • He was so careful, so—so miserly in some ways, so wildly extravagant in others.

    Good Old Anna

    Marie Belloc Lowndes

British Dictionary definitions for miserly

miserly

adjective

of or resembling a miser; avaricious
Derived Formsmiserliness, noun
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
Word Origin and History for miserly
adj.

1590s, from miser + -ly (1). Related: Miserliness.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper