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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
  • Hill went rogue and selfish, again, by cryptically hinting a coach pulled him out of the game due to his left wrist injury.
    Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel, 6 Jan. 2025
  • But while his months of legal delaying actions enabled Trump to prevent the government from holding him legally responsible for his acts, Trump cannot escape moral responsibility for what may have been history’s singularly most selfish effort to flout the rules of American democracy.
    Carl Leubsdorf, The Mercury News, 4 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Mason Fung’s impoverished young defendant Ma Ka Kit is arrested after receiving a package of narcotics from overseas.
    James Marsh, Deadline, 10 Jan. 2025
  • Since Sudan’s civil war drove a surge of refugees to Egypt starting in 2023, however, the impoverished government in Cairo has complained louder and louder about the burden of foreigners.
    Vivian Yee, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Strategic owners may focus on growth, angels on early exits and VCs on IPOs, but these can align with careful planning.
    Expert Panel®, Forbes, 14 Jan. 2025
  • But be careful when scrolling, as the answers are at the end of the article.
    John Mac Ghlionn, Newsweek, 14 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Everybody connected to the death of this poor guy is dead now.
    Makena Gera, People.com, 12 Jan. 2025
  • With sleep disorders affecting approximately 70 million Americans and poor sleep linked to serious health risks like heart disease, stroke and cognitive decline, the Tone Buds represent a significant advancement in personal sleep technology.
    Kurt Knutsson, CyberGuy Report, Fox News, 12 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Legendary investor Warren Buffett advises to be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.
    Dividend Channel, Forbes, 30 Dec. 2024
  • Season 1 framed the tournament as a straightforward allegory for the punishing trap of financial distress, rendering even the greediest characters as sympathetic to an extent.
    Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 26 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • If not a broke man’s Kyler Murray, Keene has a chance to be Gabriel-lite for Michigan.
    Austin Meek, The Athletic, 8 Jan. 2025
  • Sheinbaum must walk a fine line between her constituents, who don’t want to see Mexico humiliated — or go broke — and the unpredictable, impetuous Trump.
    Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, 12 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 17 Jan. 2025.

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