Meaning & use
penny-pincher
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Meaning
nouncountable
Someone who hates spending money and tries to save even the smallest amounts, sometimes to an annoying degree.
Grammar: Refers to a person; often hyphenated: my boss is a penny-pincher.
Patterns
- a penny-pincher about something
My grandfather was such a penny-pincher that he reused tea bags.
Don't be a penny-pincher; the gift only costs a few dollars.
The committee's penny-pinchers refused to buy new chairs.
Word forms
| plural | penny-pinchers |
|---|
Common combinations
- a notorious penny-pincher
- He was a notorious penny-pincher who never tipped.
- penny-pinching habits
- Her penny-pinching habits paid off when she bought a house.
- penny-pinching boss
- The penny-pinching boss turned off the heating.
- such a penny-pincher
- You're such a penny-pincher about gas money.
Synonyms and how they differ
- miser
- A miser hoards money out of greed, which is stronger than the often petty habits of a penny-pincher.
- skinflint
- Skinflint is an old-fashioned insult for someone stingy, more colorful than penny-pincher.
- tightwad
- Tightwad is American and informal, close to penny-pincher but usually more playful.
- frugal person
- A frugal person saves sensibly and is praised for it, whereas a penny-pincher goes too far.
Opposites
Word family
- penny-pinching adjective
- unwilling to spend money
- pinch pennies phrase
- to be very careful with money
- penny noun
- a small coin
Commonly confused: penny-pincher or penniless?
penny-pincher vs penniless
Penniless means having no money at all; a penny-pincher may have plenty but will not spend it.
Practice
Maria is a real ___: she walked home in the rain to save the bus fare.
Choose one answer.
A penny-pincher avoids spending even small sums. A spendthrift does the opposite, and the others do not match walking home to save a fare.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “penny-pincher”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.