Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The state or character of being penurious in any sense; especially, parsimony; a sordid disposition to save money.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The quality of being penurious.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a state of lacking money
  • noun a disposition to be niggardly with money

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Both took it, and followed their own pleasures, and were not usually disagreeable to one another, except when Angélique commented on what she called his penuriousness, and he upon her extravagance, in the financial administration of the family of the Des Meloises.

    The Golden Dog William Kirby 1861

  • His doggedness got him (and us) through two full decades of those pictures; his penuriousness gave them their bright and tatty look (no small part of their charm).

    Archive 2009-04-01 2009

  • The story line is fast-paced and amusing as the women revolt against their penuriousness (with his money) spendthrift (with their money) squire.

    The Confessions of a Duchess-Nicola Cornick « The Merry Genre Go Round Reviews 2009

  • Even at 12, I understood this comment to be nothing more than a way people use to justify the cruel penuriousness of the fabulously wealthy.

    looking homely, angel 2008

  • Even at 12, I understood this comment to be nothing more than a way people use to justify the cruel penuriousness of the fabulously wealthy.

    Dachshund Aficionado, january issue, p.37 2008

  • I blushed for this pettiness amid grandeur, and penuriousness surrounded by luxury.

    The Magic Skin 2007

  • The Madani are, like the Meccans, a curious mixture of generosity and meanness, of profuseness and penuriousness.

    Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah 2003

  • His tragedy lay in his penuriousness, the inability of his father to provide either the income or the property necessary to enroll his son among even the lowest of the five economic classes; all his father had bequeathed him was the raw and simple citizenship itself.

    The First Man in Rome McCullough, Colleen, 1937- 1990

  • But his penuriousness has effectively excluded him from his rightful position in the scheme of things.

    The First Man in Rome McCullough, Colleen, 1937- 1990

  • In this hospitable house, a strange contrast to the penuriousness and despotic management of Castle Downie, Lord Lovat was on the most intimate footing.

    Memoirs of the Jacobites of 1715 and 1745 Volume II. Mrs. Thomson

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