Dictionary

penurious en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /pəˈnjɝ.i.əs/ (General-American) cure–fir merger
• /pəˈnjʊɹ.i.əs/ (General-American)
• /pəˈnjʊə.ɹi.əs/ without the pour–poor merger
• /pəˈnjɔː.ɹi.əs/ pour–poor merger
• /pəˈnjɔɹ.i.əs/ (General-American) pour–poor merger
• (US) audio

Etymology

From Medieval Latin pēnūriōsus. See penury from Latin penuria (“want”), related to paene (“scarcely”), c. 1400. Compare French pénurie.

Meanings

1. Miserly; excessively cheap.
   • The old man died a penurious wretch; eighty-thousand dollars in the mattress and as many holes in the roof.
2. Not bountiful; thin; scant.
   • The penurious stew would have been more accurately labelled broth.
3. Impoverished; wanting for money.
   • The poor penurious horde, naught in the cooking pot and naught in the belly.
   • As the Swindon, Marlborough & Andover, conceived in 1872 and opened between the first two places in 1881 and to Andover and the L.S.W.R. in 1883, it was one of many small, ambitious and penurious Victorian lines, deeply concerned in the skulduggery characteristic of inter-railway dealings of that age and vexed by the G.W.R. 1961 October, “Talking of Trains: Last of the M.S.W.J.R”, in Trains Illustrated, page 585:

Forms

Antonyms

moneybags · well off · well-to-do · filthy rich · rolling in it · bow-legged wi' brass · rolling in dough · rich as Croesus · wealthy · of means · upper crust · well-endowed · fat · rich · oofy · moneyed · well-heeled · rolling · loaded · comfortably off · minted

Deriveds

penuriously · unpenurious · penuriousness

Relateds

penury

Synonyms

threadbare · poor as Job · almsless · poor as a rat · skint · poor as a church mouse · close as wax · dirt poor · down on one's luck · down at heel · shillingless · shabby · indigent · scrubby · broke · tighter than Dick's hatband · penny-wise · penurious · pauperized · oofless · flat · moneyless · badly off · insolvent · down on one's uppers · poor · nipcheese · parsimonious · possessionless · goodless · feeling the pinch · mean · close-fisted · down and out · close · miserly · unwealthy · hard up · impecunious · needy · tight-fisted · stony-broke · groatless · arm · stingy · stone-broke · poverty-stricken · chintzy · cheeseparing · pok kai · tight as a tick · beggarly · broken · niggardly · boracic · strapped · impoverished · illiberal · pinched · peddling · narrow-fisted · penniless · beggared · miserable · broker than the Ten Commandments · tight · ungenerous · still got one's communion money · in need · destitute · wealthless · necessitous · lower-class · farthingless · penny-pinching · cheap · bankrupt · swear · depauperate · poverty-ridden · as tight as Dick's hatband · disadvantaged · ungiving · scrooge-like · penurious · empty-handed · stuck

Translations (12)

bg оскъден (miserly) · ota جمری (miserly) · mi tūmatarau (miserly) · mi matamau (miserly) · ota پیس (miserly) · tr cimri (miserly) · ru скупо́й (miserly) · ota پنتی (miserly) · ru ска́редный (miserly) · mi hākere (miserly) · bg беден (miserly) · tr pinti (miserly)