tightfisted

adjective

ˈtīt-ˈfi-stəd How to pronounce tightfisted (audio)
Definition of tightfistednext
as in miserly
giving or sharing as little as possible the company is pretty tightfisted when it comes to bonuses

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 tightfisted Dobie’s cantankerous, tightfisted father and sweet, harebrained mother were played by the characters actors Frank Faylen and Florida Friebus. — Margalit Fox, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2022 The ambience reflects Hankey’s tightfisted approach to his seven companies, which include a Toyota dealership, a dealer management software developer and Midway Car Rental, which does a big business renting exotic cars. — Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2021 But most problems that befall condo associations are not from nefarious board members or tightfisted unit owners, said Rolando, the Florida Bar Association’s Condominium and Planned Development Committee co-chair. — Washington Post, 7 July 2021 The Heiress Hunt is about two strong-willed individuals learning to wrest the tightfisted control that has dictated their lives (and their success). — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 1 Apr. 2021 See All Example Sentences for tightfisted
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tightfisted
  1. greedy
  2. selfish
  3. miserly
  4. parsimonious
  5. stingy
  6. ungenerous
  7. tight
  8. penurious
Adjective
  • John Wayne and Gary Cooper, like Ken-san, often played anachronistic loners from a disappearing Arcadia that was being destroyed by hard-nosed modernizers—greedy bankers, railway owners, big-city politicians.
    — Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Katz said the rapid and steep rate movements give investors a chance to buy from the fearful and sell to the greedy.
    — Hayley Cuccinello, CNBC, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of greedy
Adjective
  • Also on Weekend Update, James Austin Johnson portrayed a selfish Kevin O’Leary, the Shark Tank investor who is backing a massive data center campus in northwest Utah.
    — William Vaillancourt, Rolling Stone, 11 Oct. 2026
  • That’s also how Violet is thinking about their portrayal of Maureen, whose eccentric performance art and selfish behavior often give the character a bad rap.
    — Ellise Shafer, Variety, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of selfish
Adjective
  • The plot involves two sons of rich, miserly fathers in love with girls their fathers will never approve of and what happens when the fathers’ devious servants decide to give the boys a hand.
    — Lonnie Burstein Hewitt, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 July 2026
  • The already rich reap the most, though the thin spreading of payments means the payouts are relatively miserly for the game’s elite.
    — Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 21 July 2026
Definition of miserly
Adjective
  • The pasta—a hair clump of noodles in a soupy, sweetish tomato sauce—came in one of those parsimonious bowls with a small hollow in the middle and a rim as broad as Saturn’s rings.
    — Ruby Tandoh, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2026
  • This one seemed slow and turgid, and the Australian attack was parsimonious, with only the sixth bowler used, Ash Gardner, going at more than 10 runs an over in her three overs.
    — Paul Newman, New York Times, 5 July 2026
Definition of parsimonious
Adjective
  • Mexico’s stingy defense at the World Cup was a big part of its early success.
    — Felipe Cardenas, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Another example is ridicule and mockery of stingy or braggadocious individuals, which keeps greed and bravado in check.
    — Christopher von Rueden, The Conversation, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of stingy
Adjective
  • In my own cautionary tale, Sister needs redemption as much as Scrooge does; events of the past have made her bitter, ungenerous, and generally no fun to be around.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Despite recent increases, the state pension is relatively ungenerous, though Britons do have good private pensions.
    — The Week UK, TheWeek, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of ungenerous
Adjective
  • Certain oils can soften dry, flaky skin and help reduce moisture loss, which may be especially helpful if your scalp feels tight or dry after shampooing.
    — Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Miami Herald, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Republicans are fighting to hold on to the Texas Senate seat, as polls point to a tight race between Paxton and Democratic opponent James Talarico.
    — Joe Walsh, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of tight
Adjective
  • The Marlins of course notoriously are among baseball’s cheapest teams, led by penurious owner Bruce Sherman.
    — Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 5 Aug. 2026
  • 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
Definition of penurious

Browse Nearby Words

tightens
tightfisted
tightfistedness
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Tightfisted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tightfisted. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of compunction

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

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

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All