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skinflint

skinflint

1 9.1
A person who does not like to spend money
  • noun
  • /ˈskɪnflɪnt/
  • Offensive
translation icon : tacaño
  • Everyone agrees that he is a notorious skinflint who refuses to part with a single dollar.

Examples

  • Everyone knows he's the most miserable skinflint ever to walk God's earth.

  • Well, something Bulger said last night just didn't fit in with his skinflint business methods.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • The old villain is too much of a skinflint to equip his presses properly.

    Academic text (1995)
  • - A skinflint, a petty tyrant, and a hypocrite to boot!

  • The old skinflint offered eighty centavos for it, which I had no recourse but to accept.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • You're a bald-headed, penny-pinching skinflint.

  • My uncle is such a skinflint that he won't even buy a coffee when we go out.

  • No one invites Harold to dinner because he's known as a real skinflint who never pays his share.

Synonyms

cheapskate
vsskinflint
  • Offensive
13 7.0

A person who does not like to spend money

is more extreme, stressing deep reluctance to spend money
miser
vsskinflint
7 6.5

A person who keeps most of their money and refuses to spend it, even if they are rich

is extremely unwilling to spend but not defined by living conditions
tightwad
vsskinflint
  • Offensive
5 8.7

A person who does not like to spend money

is stronger, implying almost no willingness to spend at all
piker
vsskinflint
  • Offensive
3 9.9

A person who does not want to spend money or take risks

is purely about extreme reluctance to spend, not about risk taking
scrooge
vsskinflint
  • Offensive
2 8.5

A person who refuses to spend money or share with others

focuses on unwillingness to spend rather than refusing to share
cheapo
vsskinflint
  • Offensive
1 9.3

A person who does not like to spend money

is the same extreme reluctance but stated more neutrally
penny pincher
vsskinflint
  • Informal
1 5.8

A person who spends very little money to save as much as possible

is about extreme reluctance across all spending, not only small amounts
pinchpenny
vsskinflint
  • Offensive
1 9.8

A person who does not like to spend money

is similar but stresses extreme reluctance rather than habit alone
cheapie
vsskinflint
  • Offensive
8.3

A person who does not like to spend money

is focused on extreme reluctance rather than informal insult

Antonyms

5 8.5

A person who spends money in a careless, wasteful way

How Stingy

skinflint
  • Offensive
1 9.1
tightwad
  • Offensive
5 8.7
penny pincher
  • Informal
1 5.8

Surface Forms

skinflint singular
skinflints plural

Morphology

skinflint = skin + flint (opaque) = skin + flint

Although formed from the words 'skin' and 'flint', the idiomatic meaning 'miser' is not predictable from the parts.

Etymology

Skinflint comes from two simple words, skin and flint. A helpful way to remember it is to picture someone so tight with money they are 'hard as flint' and would try to 'skin' even a rock to save a penny, so a skinflint is a very 'stingy' person.