piker

noun

pik·​er ˈpī-kər 

1

: one who gambles or speculates with small amounts of money

2

: one who does things in a small way

also : tightwad, cheapskate

Synonyms

• cheapskate
• churl
• hunks
• miser
• niggard
• penny-pincher
• scrooge
• skinflint
• tightwad

Examples of piker in a Sentence

don't be such a piker—live it up a little while you're on vacation!

Recent Examples on the Web

And Stockfish, in turn, is a piker next to AlphaZero, which crushed it after a mere 24 hours of self-training. —IEEE Spectrum, 6 Dec. 2018

Former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush were pikers in comparison. —Andrea Louise Campbell, Foreign Affairs, 16 May 2017

So far, this pullback has taken 15% off gold’s peak price — a piker by historical standards — and has lasted just 13 months, well within norms for mid-cycle corrections. —Moneyshow, Forbes, 25 Oct. 2021

Congress’s decision will ultimately determine whether this massive federal check-writing operation will be cemented in Joe Biden’s legacy — an initiative that’s already made FDR look like a government-check-writing piker by comparison. —Matt Weidinger, National Review, 20 Sep. 2021

Compared to more established coins, SafeMoon is a piker. —Danielle Abril, Fortune, 17 May 2021

The end result could make the architect of the Great Society look like a piker. —W. James Antle Iii, Washington Examiner, 16 Mar. 2021

If lording such exclusivity over your piker friends who drive 500SLs and 850is is worth the price of a decent house to you, well fine. —Larry Griffin, Car and Driver, 27 May 2020

But talk about Ticket Masters, jocks are pikers compared to diplomats. —David Whitley, OrlandoSentinel.com, 28 Sep. 2017

Word History

Etymology

pike to play cautiously, of unknown origin

First Known Use

1859, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

piker

noun

pik·​er ˈpī-kər 

1

: one who does things on a small scale

especially : one who gambles with a small amount of money

2

: cheapskate, chiseler