Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

penurious

/pəˈnjʊɹ.i.əs/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.43 in modern English

Syllables: penu-ri-ous
IPA: /pəˈnjʊɹ.i.əs/

11

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

4

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Miserly; excessively cheap.

adj

Not bountiful; thin; scant.

adj

Impoverished; wanting for money.

Example Sentences

"The old man died a penurious wretch; eighty-thousand dollars in the mattress and as many holes in the roof."
"The penurious stew would have been more accurately labelled broth."
"The poor penurious horde, naught in the cooking pot and naught in the belly."
"As the Swindon, Marlborough & Andover, conceived in 1872 and opened between the first two places in 1881 and to Andover and the L.S.W.R. in 1883, it was one of many small, ambitious and penurious Victorian lines, deeply concerned in the skulduggery characteristic of inter-railway dealings of that age and vexed by the G.W.R."

Etymology

From Medieval Latin pēnūriōsus. See penury from Latin penuria (“want”), related to paene (“scarcely”), c. 1400. Compare French pénurie.

Word Breakdown

Root: pēnūriōsus

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /pəˈnjʊɹ.i.əs/

Inflected Forms

more penurious (comparative) most penurious (superlative)

Derived Forms

penuriously penuriousness unpenurious

Frequently Paired Words

penury

Synonyms

as tight as Dick's hatband cheap cheeseparing chintzy close close as wax close-fisted illiberal mean miserable miserly narrow-fisted

Antonyms

bow-legged wi' brass comfortably off filthy rich loaded fat minted moneyed moneybags of means oofy rich rich as Croesus

Questions

How do you pronounce penurious?: The recorded pronunciation is /pəˈnjʊɹ.i.əs/.
What does penurious mean?: Miserly; excessively cheap.
Where does penurious come from?: From Medieval Latin pēnūriōsus. See penury from Latin penuria (“want”), related to paene (“scarcely”), c. 1400. Compare French pénurie.

How to pronounce penurious

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “penurious”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/pəˈnjʊɹ.i.əs/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “penurious”.
Repeat and practice — Say “penurious” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.