miserly

C2+ Topic:Money & Finance

US /ˈmaɪzɚli/ UK /ˈmaɪzəli/ See IPA manual

adj

Meanings

1

adj
extremely reluctant to spend money; stingy

His miserly habits left his family wanting for nothing yet enjoying little.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · extremely reluctant to... stingy meantightfistedparsimoniouspenny-pinchingcheap niggardly

Opposites

generous lavish liberalopenhanded

Word family

Derived forms miserliness

Related forms miser miserable misery

Etymology

From miser + -ly, from Latin miser ('wretched, unhappy').

miser Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Money & Finance Word Formation & Derivatives

# miserly

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** ˈmaɪzɚli
**IPA (UK):** ˈmaɪzəli

## Meanings
1. extremely reluctant to spend money; stingy

## Examples
- His miserly habits left his family wanting for nothing yet enjoying little.

## Synonyms
- stingy
- mean
- tightfisted
- parsimonious
- penny-pinching
- cheap
- niggardly

## Antonyms
- generous
- lavish
- liberal
- openhanded

## Derived Forms
- miserliness

## Related Forms
- miser
- miserable
- misery

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: miser

## Etymology
From miser + -ly, from Latin miser ('wretched, unhappy').

## AI Etymology
Miserly comes from miser + -ly, from Latin miser ('wretched, unhappy'). The historical trail runs through Latin miser. Morphologically, the surface form is analyzable into prefixes, suffixes, compounds, or participial endings that carry part of the history. In modern use it means extremely reluctant to spend money; stingy. Derived formations include miserliness; related forms include miser, miserable, misery.

## Topics
- Money & Finance
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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miserly

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