stinginess

[ stin-jee-nis ]

noun

1. the state or condition of being reluctant to give or spend; miserliness:

   The governor’s stinginess with public money, and his hard line on welfare spending, were two of the factors that led most liberals to back his opponent in the next election.

   As one might expect, Mother Nature's stinginess with water has done a number on agricultural production in the region.

2. the state of being meager or barely sufficient in amount:

   Because of the stinginess of the aid payments, researchers found that welfare mothers still need to find other sources of income.

Word History and Origins

Origin of stinginess¹

stingy ¹( def ) + -ness ( def )

Example Sentences

As Steven Vogel, the late biomechanics researcher at Duke University, once wrote, such robots are more in line with the natural world, where stiff materials are doled out “with a stingy hand.”

From Fortune

In fact, the Dolphins defense has been stingier on points allowed this year than every other team but the Pittsburgh Steelers.

From FiveThirtyEight

If the people who receive empathy and compassion are left better off, and if the people who dispense it are also left better off, I can’t see any reason to be stingy with it.

From Freakonomics

At a conference last week, Jack Ma, Alibaba’s founder and Asia’s richest man, spoke out against the incumbent banking system, comparing its institutions to stingy pawnshops.

From Fortune

For her part, Pelosi criticized the GOP’s proposals as too stingy, contending that the administration is focused on protecting tax breaks for the wealthy instead of help for families and children in need.

From Washington Post

Finally, a kind of self-reinforcing stinginess perhaps best explains the lack of Medals of Honor.

From The Daily Beast

Players can use the “Jewish stinginess” card to force competitors to hand over resources.

From The Daily Beast

Republican stinginess—relative stinginess, as all the proposals will cost massive amounts—could yield political dividends.

From The Daily Beast

Superlatives and all words denoting comparison should be used with stinginess.

From Project Gutenberg

What Chopin says here and elsewhere about Duport's stinginess tallies with the contemporary newspaper accounts.

From Project Gutenberg

But the diligence and liberality of the authorities were not to be outdone by the skulking stinginess of Negro-smugglers.

From Project Gutenberg

The Democratic administration was economical even to stinginess.

From Project Gutenberg

He knew the Howes family by reputation, and the reputation was that of general sharpness in trade and stinginess in money matters.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• frugality
• prudence
• thrift
• thriftiness