Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

skinflint

[skin-flint]
See more synonyms for skinflint on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a mean, niggardly person; miser.
Show More

Origin of skinflint

First recorded in 1690–1700; skin + flint
Related formsskin·flint·i·ly, adverbskin·flint·i·ness, nounskin·flint·y, adjective

Synonyms

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com
hoarder, pinchpenny, niggard, Scrooge.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

tightwadScroogemiserhoardermoneygrubberpenny-pincherpinchpenny

Examples from the Web for skinflint

Historical Examples

  • He's just as much a born bully as he is a cheat and a skinflint.

    The Depot Master

    Joseph C. Lincoln

  • “I always reckoned you was a skinflint,” yelled one of the party.

  • I call it getting a bit on account by forcing the hand of a skinflint.

    The Scarlet Feather

    Houghton Townley

  • Skinflint, an old and popular simile for a close-fisted, stingy person.

    The Slang Dictionary

    John Camden Hotten

  • When Skinflint Sam says that the price of flour is up—well, then, it is up; and that's all there is about it.

    Billy Topsail, M.D.

    Norman Duncan

British Dictionary definitions for skinflint

skinflint

noun
  1. an ungenerous or niggardly person; miser
Show More
Derived Formsskinflinty, adjective

Word Origin

C18: referring to a person so avaricious that he would skin (swindle) a flint
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 skinflint

n.

"miser, one who makes use of contemptible economy to keep money," 1700, slang; literally "kind of person who would skin a flint to save or gain something," from skin (v.) + flint. Flay-flint in same sense is from 1670s.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper