Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One who is very reluctant to spend money; a miser.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who makes use of contemptible means to get or save money; a mean, niggardly, or avaricious person; a miser.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A penurious person; a miser; a niggard.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun one who is excessively stingy or cautious with money; a tightwad; a miser

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a selfish person who is unwilling to give or spend

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word skinflint.

Examples

  • Eilert, though, is known as a skinflint, and that sells in times like these.

    KansasCity.com: Front Page 2010

  • Eilert, though, is known as a skinflint, and that sells in times like these.

    KansasCity.com: Front Page 2010

  • He didn't seem to be too bothered by his 'skinflint' reputation.

    Grim laughs: A question on humor and crime fiction Peter Rozovsky 2010

  • But you know you have now made Bubba's "skinflint" list for having even made a complaint about it.

    Mexican Tourist Tax Up Date 2006

  • _kyminopristes_ ( "skinflint"), a cumin-seller, as it were, because he makes a great fuss about things of little value.

    Summa Theologica, Part II-II (Secunda Secundae) Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province Aquinas Thomas

  • 'skinflint' husband after 12 largely unhappy years of marriage, that he hit her head with a hammer at least seven times.

    Home | Mail Online 2010

  • Ensconced at First Lutheran Church in Back Bay, the venue provided some questionable Boston hospitality via the city's skinflint approach to parking — a meter maid was already lurking as I fed my quarters; the concert featured multiple announcements of which cars were in the process of being towed.

    Authentication keys Matthew Guerrieri 2009

  • Stephen Taaffe's penetrating look at the Army's "one indispensable man," by contrast, skirts the chief of staff's more conspicuous duties, such as coaxing funds out of a skinflint Congress, locking horns with Winston Churchill over grand strategy and training millions of civilians to wage war.

    Casting the Plan For Victory 2012

  • Benny, rather than turning over his wallet he nurtured a reputation as a notorious skinflint crosses his arms, furrows his brow, taps his lips, and stares into space.

    David Burwell: Our Global Choice: Asserting U.S. Leadership on Climate and Energy David Burwell 2011

  • Ensconced at First Lutheran Church in Back Bay, the venue provided some questionable Boston hospitality via the city's skinflint approach to parking — a meter maid was already lurking as I fed my quarters; the concert featured multiple announcements of which cars were in the process of being towed.

    Archive 2009-06-01 Matthew Guerrieri 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Can't believe I'm a skinflint.

    March 4, 2007

  • Someone who would skin a flint if s/he could. And could gain from it.

    Much like blood from a turnip

    July 12, 2007