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Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective penurious contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of penurious are close, miserly, niggardly, parsimonious, and stingy. While all these words mean "being unwilling or showing unwillingness to share with others," penurious implies niggardliness that gives an appearance of actual poverty.

the penurious eccentric bequeathed a fortune

Where would close be a reasonable alternative to penurious?

While the synonyms close and penurious are close in meaning, close suggests keeping a tight grip on one's money and possessions.

folks who are very close when charity calls

When might miserly be a better fit than penurious?

While in some cases nearly identical to penurious, miserly suggests a sordid avariciousness and a morbid pleasure in hoarding.

a miserly couple devoid of social conscience

When is it sensible to use niggardly instead of penurious?

Although the words niggardly and penurious have much in common, niggardly implies giving or spending the very smallest amount possible.

the niggardly amount budgeted for the town library

In what contexts can parsimonious take the place of penurious?

The words parsimonious and penurious can be used in similar contexts, but parsimonious suggests a frugality so extreme as to lead to stinginess.

a parsimonious lifestyle notably lacking in luxuries

When can stingy be used instead of penurious?

The meanings of stingy and penurious largely overlap; however, stingy implies a marked lack of generosity.

a stingy child, not given to sharing

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of penurious There are resentful relatives, penurious relatives, conniving relatives, no relatives, and loved ones denied input because they are not related. Dan Barry, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2024 The book looks beyond Appalachia, concluding the regions in question had been exploited by single industries and white elites, paying poor wages with equally penurious working conditions. Ken Silverstein, Forbes, 13 Aug. 2023 When his sports career petered out, Thorpe kept hustling to make an increasingly penurious living. Jim Higgins, Journal Sentinel, 4 Aug. 2022 Her father had left high school at 14 to support his penurious mother and work as a delivery boy in a cotton trading company. New York Times, 20 Apr. 2022 See all Example Sentences for penurious 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for penurious
Adjective
  • Warm feelings fueled by the wonder and kindness of the season, inspired by the transformative and timeless experiences of Ebenezer Scrooge who changed from a selfish, penny-pinching grouch, into a generous, happy and altruistic person.
    Eric C. Shuster, Austin American-Statesman, 6 Dec. 2024
  • The high price for Yoon’s selfish martial law debacle will be paid over time, in installments, by South Korea’s 51 million people.
    William Pesek, Forbes, 6 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • Assad’s fall ends more than six decades of Baath Party rule that sought to center Syria as a leader in the Arab world, but instead left it corruption-riddled and impoverished.
    Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 9 Dec. 2024
  • In Delhi, impoverished kids are learning to love reading and math, thanks to a police officer’s makeshift school.
    Shefali Rafiq, The Christian Science Monitor, 9 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • After that, Buckley seemed more careful about positioning, doing his best to keep the action in the open while not allowing Covington to close in and work from the clinch.
    Trent Reinsmith, Forbes, 15 Dec. 2024
  • Behind, kids are hoisted — careful with that hot chocolate!
    Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune, 15 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • So this poor kid [who finished in last], this single guy, for a year had to have a Fathead of his buddy in boxers, a giant life-size Fathead above his bed.
    Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 13 Dec. 2024
  • The cub was also hairless and found in poor condition.
    Greta Cross, USA TODAY, 13 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • Some wonder what's wrong with American society; some see a wakeup call for greedy health insurers.
    Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 17 Dec. 2024
  • Even as a single, childless woman, which society calls failure, my life always felt charmed, so charmed that asking God for more felt greedy.
    Essence, Essence, 17 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • The movie’s protagonist, Frida (Naomi Ackie), is a broke cater waiter and nail artist who sneaks into the VIP section of an event she’s been working, only to trip on her heels and fall flat on her face.
    Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 6 Dec. 2024
  • Cuban himself ran side hustles, got fired from multiple jobs and nearly went broke on his path to becoming a billionaire.
    Megan Sauer, CNBC, 3 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • But neither can anyone seriously accuse the United States of being ungenerous with its citizens’ lives and treasure or of having no ideals.
    Joshua Landis, Foreign Affairs, 19 Jan. 2016
  • This is the problem with the show: These women are just concocting reasons why the people on the other side suck, and it’s become the most uncharitable, the most ungenerous thing on Bravo.
    Brian Moylan, Vulture, 15 July 2024
Adjective
  • Even the Kremlin’s own human rights council had denounced the charges as unwarranted, adding its voice to a chorus of support for Prokopyeva in what became a battle of wills between an impecunious local reporter and Russia’s powerful security apparatus.
    Andrew Higgins, BostonGlobe.com, 6 July 2020
  • His half-Danish father, Prince Andrew, second in line to the Greek throne, was sentenced to death after the army was defeated in Smyrna by the Turks, saved only by the intervention of George V. In 1930, after eight years of impecunious exile in Paris, the family dispersed.
    Moira Hodgson, WSJ, 4 Dec. 2020

Thesaurus Entries Near penurious

Cite this Entry

“Penurious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/penurious. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.

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