penurious.

1. Having very little money or material means.

2. Extremely unwilling to spend or share money.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• penurious circumstances
• a penurious household

On the page

Their penurious circumstances left no money for the journey.

The letters revealed how penurious the household had become.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary. Forms: Comparative more penurious; superlative most penurious where gradation is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.