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
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.
In almost every case, at least one man, woman or child looks out from the penurious scene and stares squarely at the viewer, imploringly.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 31, 2023
There his followers learn about his penurious childhood and his own children's lives.
From BBC • Apr. 17, 2023
China is increasingly likely to grow old before it gets rich, consigning hundreds of millions of Chinese to a penurious and often lonely old age.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 18, 2023
Ledecky’s stance is a far cry from Wang’s penurious tenure, during which the Islanders rarely sought out high-priced free agents.
From New York Times • Jul. 13, 2016
In character he was a saving, penurious creature, without one single sympathy outside his own immediate interests.
From Barrington Volume I (of II) by Lever, Charles James
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.
