What does penurious mean?
Penurious is a formal adjective with two related meanings. Most commonly, it describes a person who is miserly: unwilling to spend money, share resources, or provide even modest assistance. A less common and more literary sense describes someone lacking money or basic necessities. The distinction is therefore one of emphasis, since both senses connect the word with economic hardship. In contemporary use, penurious is often applied to behaviour rather than material conditions, as in a penurious attitude or a penurious refusal to help. Its tone is strongly critical, and the word may sound formal, old-fashioned, or deliberately severe. It is more pointed than simply mean and more literary than stingy, while it can convey a stronger impression of habitual miserliness than parsimonious in some contexts.
adjectiveMean or miserly, especially in refusing to spend or share money. In a less common sense, it means so poor as to lack basic necessities.
- Mean or miserly, especially in refusing to spend or share money.
- Having or characterized by a severe lack of money or basic necessities.
"His penurious habits left him wealthy on paper but isolated in practice."
"The penurious landlord refused to repair the heating despite the freezing weather."
"They lived in penurious circumstances after the business collapsed."
Penurious can describe both someone who hoards every penny and someone who has almost none.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does penurious come from?
Penurious comes through Latin from the same root as pauper, the Latin word for a poor person. The adjective entered English from Latin or French in the 17th century, initially in the sense of poor or poverty-stricken. Its meaning later extended to mean stingy or miserly, connecting economic hardship with unwillingness to share or spend.
Related word forms
How penurious is actually used
The word is formal and often sounds critical or literary. Its primary sense is miserly, while its less common sense for poverty-stricken is now somewhat dated.
Easily confused with penurious
Penurious means miserly or poverty-stricken, whereas pernicious means harmful or destructive.
Penurious is an adjective describing a person, condition, or behaviour; penury is a noun meaning extreme poverty.