stingy

/ˈstɪŋi/

/ˈstɪndʒi/

Other forms: stingiest; stingier

If you are looking to describe someone with a Scrooge- or Grinch-like tendency to pinch his pennies, then stingy can be your adjective of choice. Or, if you are looking to describe something you have too little of — like a 43-second coffee break — you can use stingy as well.

The adjective stingy (pronounced with a soft "g") is likely derived from the adjective stingy (pronounced with a hard "g"), which means "biting, sharp, or stinging." Although stingy is usually used to describe an ungenerous or miserly person, stingy can also be used to describe a larger entity: "People were no longer able to buy homes due to the stingy lending policies of the banks."

Definitions of stingy

1. adjective

   unwilling to spend
   “she practices economy without being stingy”

   synonyms: ungenerous

   uncharitable

   lacking love and generosity

   beggarly, mean

   (used of sums of money) so small in amount as to deserve contempt

   cheap, chinchy, chintzy

   embarrassingly stingy

   cheeseparing, close, near, penny-pinching, skinny

   giving or spending with reluctance

   closefisted, hardfisted, tightfisted

   unwilling to part with money

   grudging, niggardly, scrimy

   petty or reluctant in giving or spending

   mean, mingy, miserly, tight

   (used of persons or behavior) characterized by or indicative of lack of generosity

   parsimonious, penurious

   excessively unwilling to spend

   meanspirited, ungenerous

   lacking in magnanimity

   selfish

   concerned chiefly or only with yourself and your advantage to the exclusion of others

   antonyms:

   generous

   willing to give and share unstintingly

   charitable

   full of love and generosity

   benevolent, freehearted

   generous in providing aid to others

   big, bighearted, bounteous, bountiful, freehanded, giving, handsome, liberal, openhanded

   given or giving freely

   lavish, munificent, overgenerous, too-generous, unsparing, unstinted, unstinting

   very generous

   unselfish

   not greedy

   generous

   not petty in character and mind

   unselfish

   disregarding your own advantages and welfare over those of others
2. adjective

   deficient in amount or quality or extent
   synonyms: meager, meagerly, meagre, scrimpy

   scarce

   deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand

   bare, scanty, spare

   lacking in amplitude or quantity

   exiguous

   extremely scanty

   hand-to-mouth

   providing only bare essentials

   hardscrabble

   barely satisfying a lower standard

   measly, miserable, paltry

   contemptibly small in amount

   minimal, minimum

   the least possible

   deficient, insufficient

   of a quantity not able to fulfill a need or requirement