pinchpenny
Americannoun
adjective
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pinchpenny
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English pynchepeny; see origin at pinch, penny ( def. )
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.
Produced for a pinchpenny $12 million, the movie stars Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort as afflicted adolescents who meet at a cancer group-therapy session and fall splendidly in love.
From Time • Jun. 7, 2014
If he could keep the ragtag A's in playoff contention on a pinchpenny budget, he might be able to run a winning government on a shoestring.
From Time • Sep. 10, 2011
Adhering to pinchpenny rules laid down by his boss, pulp tycoon A.A.
From Time • Mar. 4, 2011
The huge and unexpected triumph of A Room with a View has brought in lavish Hollywood offers but has failed to alter Merchant's pinchpenny philosophy.
From Time Magazine Archive
![]()
“My days of being a pinchpenny might be coming to an end.”
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
![]()
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.