niggardly
/ˈnɪɡɚdli/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.81 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "[W]here the owner of the house will be bountiful, it is not for the steward to be niggardly."
- "They were not niggardly, these tramps, and he who had money did not hesitate to share it among the rest."
- "This manifests itself in an implacable tendency to provide an opulent supply of some things and a niggardly yield of others."
- "because many families are compelled to live niggardly, exhaust and undone by great dowers, none shall be given at all, or very little […]."
Etymology
Etymology tree English niggard Proto-Indo-European *leyg-der. Proto-Germanic *līkąder. Proto-Germanic *-līkaz Proto-West Germanic *-līk Old English -līċ Middle English -ly English -ly English niggardly From niggard + -ly (adjectival suffix).
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈnɪɡɚdli/
- British English: /ˈnɪɡədli/
Usage
Inflected Forms
more niggardly (comparative)
most niggardly (superlative)
Derived Forms
Synonyms
miserly
stingy
as tight as Dick's hatband
cheap
cheeseparing
chintzy
close
close as wax
close-fisted
illiberal
mean
miserable