PENURIOUS Synonyms: 156 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: 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

Q: 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

Q: 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

Q: 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

Q: 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

Q: 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

penurious

adjective

pə-ˈnu̇r-ē-əs

Definition of penurious

as in careful

giving or sharing as little as possible the company's penurious management could not be convinced of the need to earmark more money for research and development

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in impoverished

lacking money or material possessions the most penurious members of the community are forced to depend on the services of the food bank

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 There’s a cast of wanderers, visionaries, and itinerants, the self-educated and self-published, a long lineage of cranks and outcasts, mostly penurious, always opinionated, stretching away into the mists of pseudohistory. — Hari Kunzru, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026 Even so, the general picture of a mother’s absence and a daughter’s understandable resentment at having had to pick up the maternal slack in penurious conditions comes through loud and clear. — Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2024 Whatever was going on between the two rich men, the murder investigation presents a profound, perhaps insurmountable challenge to the penurious tropical police force. — Nina Burleigh, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 May 2024 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 See All Example Sentences for penurious

Recent Examples of Synonyms for penurious

Adjective

Getting to that point required careful control of stress during fabrication.

— Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 3 Sep. 2026
Huntsinger, playing along with Variety’s should-win/will-win Emmy prediction game, drew a careful line.

— Clayton Davis, Variety, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of careful

Adjective

But perhaps the most impressive thing the seemingly tireless Parton did during her 80 years was donate much of her wealth to impoverished communities.

— Donna Vickroy, Chicago Tribune, 28 Aug. 2026
The loosened restrictions will not empower Washington to pursue investment and economic cooperation with al Sharaa’s government, which could transform the impoverished country.

— Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of impoverished

Adjective

Steve Bova, another friend and former director of the international division at Systematics, recalled how Steuri was anything but selfish.

— Dylan Sherman, Arkansas Online, 1 Sep. 2026
But the most terrifying characters are the broken, vain, selfish parents who in one way or another cause their children so much harm.

— Deputy Managing Editor, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of selfish

Adjective

Dozens of companies have withdrawn over the past decades due to poor profits, an uncertain business outlook and concerns about harm to their reputations from making arms, especially lethal weapons.

— Mia Osmonbekov, Fortune, 31 Aug. 2026
Along the way, the audience can expect tons of humiliation, terrible second prizes, and the guarantee that Robertson will turn at least one poor soul's wrong turn into several minutes of unhinged public destruction.

— Rebecca Rosman, NPR, 31 Aug. 2026

Definition of poor

Adjective

However, greedy jobs are mostly characterized by the unpredictability of when individuals are required to work.

— Kim Elsesser, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2026
Through its own websites, the mysterious group has been portraying itself as vigilantes out to rein in greedy video game developers.

— Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of greedy

Adjective

Rachel and Monica’s West Village sublet gave way to Hannah and Marnie’s Greenpoint apartment—an address that might be considered laughably unattainable by the broke twentysomethings of today.

— Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 27 Aug. 2026
That was about four months after Buc-ee's broke ground near Dayton.

— ABC News, ABC News, 23 Aug. 2026

Definition of broke

Adjective

Traumatized into silence, the de facto orphan stays living with the kindly but guilt-ridden, grieving and impecunious Hiroshi.

— Jessica Kiang, Variety, 12 June 2026
Since then, it has been performed across much of the world, being ideally suited to these impecunious times and very masterfully written.

— Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 13 Mar. 2026

Definition of impecunious

Browse Nearby Words

penumbral

penurious

penuriousness

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Penurious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/penurious. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of penurious

adjective

Synonym Chooser

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

matriculate

Popular in Grammar & Usage

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

A List of Most Commonly Confused Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 4

Popular

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke

Games & Quizzes