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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

Example 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 Both album and turntable were all the rage, and the Technics was the first quality direct-drive turntable that a penurious college student could afford. Robert Ross, Robb Report, 20 Mar. 2024 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 See All Example Sentences for penurious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for penurious
Adjective
  • Bad guys are selfish, greedy, and prone to speeches.
    John DeVore, Rolling Stone, 31 Mar. 2025
  • But the use of performance enhancing substances by professional athletes is also a selfish act.
    Bernie Pleskoff, Forbes.com, 31 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • These navigators link impoverished Floridians with the network of religious and community organizations that support them and teach them how to take of themselves, according to Hope Florida’s supporters.
    Jeffrey Schweers, The Orlando Sentinel, 4 Apr. 2025
  • On the idyllic shores of the once popular tourist hot spot Inle Lake, in southern Shan state, the earthquake destroyed hundreds of bamboo houses on stilts occupied by impoverished villagers, according to aid workers.
    Ross Adkin, CNN Money, 4 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • But the discussion around Golden this season has been muted, strained and careful all the way to the end, Monday’s dramatic 65-63 comeback win against Houston to seize the title.
    Joe Rexrode, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025
  • Although careful planning is essential, action generates momentum.
    Chris Gallagher, USA Today, 8 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • There’s a real debate to be had about what responsibility better-off neighborhoods like Hyde Park have to help solve humanitarian problems that often are laid at the feet of poorer areas.
    The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 6 Apr. 2025
  • Job loss also results in people experiencing higher levels of depressive symptoms, poor health, loss of social support, and disruption of social and family ties, according to Jennie E Brand, author of The Far-Reaching Impact of Job Loss and Unemployment.
    Paul Klein, Forbes.com, 5 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Bulls make money, bears make money, pigs get slaughtered Cramer said the market action punished investors who’ve stayed negative, as well as short sellers and hedge funds that got greedy in the past few days.
    Russell Leung, CNBC, 9 Apr. 2025
  • There are also a number of Native American legends in which buzzards are portrayed as greedy and deceptive compared with other large birds.
    Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • The match-up broke ratings records, with nearly 128 million viewers tuning in, according to Nielsen.
    Judy Kurtz, The Hill, 26 Mar. 2025
  • Fake Wedding follows two broke singles who throw a fake wedding to cash in on the registry and the very real problems the make-believe couple encounters.
    Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 17 Mar. 2025
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

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Cite this Entry

“Penurious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/penurious. Accessed 14 Apr. 2025.

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