scrooge
verb (used with or without object)
Showing results for "scrooge"
- a variation of scrouge.
scrooge
1 American
[skrooj]
/ skrudʒ /
verb (used with or without object)
scrooged,
scrooging
Scrooge
2
American
[skrooj]
/ skrudʒ /
noun
-
Ebenezer a miserly curmudgeon in Dickens' Christmas Carol.
-
(often lowercase) any miserly person.
Scrooge
British
/ skruːdʒ /
noun
Etymology
Origin of Scrooge
1935–40, Scrooge for def. 2
Explanation
A scrooge is a person who is stingy with money: scrooges would rather do anything than part with a buck. The novels of Charles Dickens have contributed more than a dozen words that found their way into everyday language. Scrooge, the chief character from A Christmas Carol, is perhaps the best-known of them all. Like the character, a scrooge is a selfish person who doesn't like giving or spending. Scrooges keep a tight hold on every penny, even if they’re rich. You can also call a scrooge a miser or skinflint. Someone generous is the opposite of a scrooge.
Vocabulary lists containing scrooge
You Name It: Eponyms
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Scrooge, Grinch, and Churl: Wonderful Words for Unpleasant People
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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.
See Examples For:
"There's a few out there who think I'm a bit of a scrooge but my friends think it's quite a good idea," she said.
From BBC ● Dec. 22, 2022
I know we're starved for sports, and maybe I'm being a scrooge, but I cannot imagine this has any effect beyond making us even more acutely aware of what we can't see.
From Golf Digest ● Apr. 6, 2020
The late Alan Rickman, who also stars in Christmas classic "Love Actually," looks more scrooge than cold-blooded killer as Hans Gruber when he speaks of Christmas being a "time of the miracles."
From Fox News ● Dec. 19, 2018
Q. Bloody scrooge: The annual blood drive is here.
From Slate ● Mar. 28, 2017
You just bet my world is full of nice men, packed like sardines; but they'll all scrooge up a little and make room for you on the top layer among the selects!
From Michael O'Halloran by Stratton-Porter, Gene
So let’s dive, Scrooge McDuck–style, into the swampy details.
From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2026
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 ● Jan. 2, 2026
The results can be spectacular and memorable, like “The Muppet Christmas Carol,” which, with its beloved Muppet characters filling out iconic roles and Michael Caine playing Scrooge, demands to be watched annually.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2025
Without wanting to play Scrooge, investors should remember that markets are as barren as Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree this week—with Tuesday having the lowest trading volumes since Jan. 3, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
From Barron's ● Dec. 24, 2025
“Maybe I read too much Dickens over the holidays. Scrooge, Marley, Tiny Tim.”
From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein
As he swung in for a landing, Mickey tootled a tune�oom-pah-pah, with a tweet now and then�on his signal-whistles,which suddenly had faces that scrooged up as they blew.
From Time Magazine Archive
He put Harry in front of the Bull's-Eye and scrooged him around so as to blanket the White Wings as much as possible and then he told him to think of Money and look Pleasant.
From People You Know by Ade, George
So he scraped and scratched and scrabbled and scrooged and then he scrooged again and scrabbled and scratched and scraped, working busily with his little paws and muttering to himself, 'Up we go!
From The Wind in the Willows by Grahame, Kenneth
She was veiled and he was goggled, and both of them scrooged down in the seat apprehensively.
From The Flyers by McCutcheon, George Barr
"Well! if I'd ha' known I should ha' got scrooged into a Sandwich in this way, I'd have seen the Hant-heater at 'Anover fust!"
From Punch - Volume 25 (Jul-Dec 1853) by Various
And I can only see you by scrooging into the corner, and the curting's there.
From Little Miss Peggy Only a Nursery Story by Molesworth, Mrs.
Gertie and Chicken Little both squirmed uneasily, but Katy caught her breath and went on reading, scrooging up a little closer under the umbrellas.
From Chicken Little Jane by Ritchie, Lily Munsell
And I were that stiff with scrooging in this cornder—" "Is that all?
From Erema — My Father's Sin by Blackmore, R. D. (Richard Doddridge)
Such pushing and scrooging, you never seen the like, Kirry.
From The Manxman A Novel - 1895 by Caine, Hall, Sir
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.
