Meaning & use
miser
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Meaning
nouncountabledisapproving
Someone who loves money so much that they save it obsessively and refuse to spend it, even on basic comforts.
Grammar: A countable noun, usually critical: he lived like a miser.
Patterns
- a miser with money
The old miser counted his coins every night and never turned on the heater.
Don't be such a miser; it's only a small donation.
In the story, a miser learns that wealth cannot buy kindness.
Word forms
| plural | misers |
|---|
Common combinations
- old miser
- The old miser refused to repair his leaking roof.
- penny-pinching miser
- He was a penny-pinching miser who reused tea bags.
- greedy miser
- The greedy miser hid his savings under the floor.
- miser's hoard
- They found a miser's hoard of coins in the attic.
- like a miser
- She guards her free time like a miser.
Synonyms and how they differ
- skinflint
- Skinflint is more informal and mocking, and it stresses meanness in everyday dealings rather than a passion for hoarding.
- scrooge
- Scrooge refers to a famous fictional character and suggests joyless meanness, often at holiday time.
- tightwad
- Tightwad is American slang for someone unwilling to spend, usually milder and more humorous than miser.
- penny-pincher
- A penny-pincher is careful about small amounts, which can be thrifty, while a miser is extreme.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: miser or misery? miser or miserable?
miser vs misery
Misery means great unhappiness; a miser is a stingy person, though the words look related.
miser vs miserable
Miserable means very unhappy, which is unrelated to being stingy.
Practice
Our landlord is such a ___ that he won't even replace the broken light bulbs in the hall.
Choose one answer.
A miser refuses to spend money. Martyr, maestro and mentor are real nouns but describe suffering, skill and guidance, not stinginess.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “miser”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.