INDEX:
1. generous
2. not generous
3. someone who is not generous
RELATED WORDS
see also
↑ GIVE
↑ KIND
↑ SELFISH/NOT SELFISH
↑ SPEND MONEY OR TIME
↑ MONEY
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1. generous
▷ generous /ˈdʒen ə rəs/ [adjective]
someone who is generous gives money or presents to other people, and you think it is kind and good of them to do this :
▪ My sister’s really generous. She’s always buying things for her friends.
▪ I am so amazed at how caring and generous people are here.
▪ The Cranstons are among the museum’s most generous donors.
generous to
▪ Roy was always cheerful and outgoing and generous to everyone.
it is generous of somebody (to do something)
▪ My dad offered to pay my plane fare, which was very generous of him.
generously [adverb]
▪ These children need your help. Please give generously.
▷ generosity /ˌdʒenəˈrɒsɪti, ˌdʒenəˈrɒsətiǁ-ˈrɑː-/ [uncountable noun]
generous behaviour :
▪ The Prince was famous for his generosity.
2. not generous
▷ stingy also miserly /ˈstɪndʒi, ˈmaɪzəʳli/ [adjective]
not generous, especially in small ways, when you could easily afford to be generous :
▪ They are rich, but they are terribly stingy.
▪ A hard, miserly woman, she left her daughters emotionally damaged.
stingy with
▪ I don’t know why they were so stingy with the drinks -- they have plenty of money.
▷ mean /miːn/ [adjective] British
someone who is mean does not like spending money or sharing what they have with other people :
▪ He’s so mean, he won’t even buy his wife a birthday present.
mean with
▪ Marsha has always been mean with her money.
▷ tight/tight-fisted /taɪt, ˌtaɪt ˈfɪstə̇d◂/ [adjective] spoken informal
someone who is tight or tight-fisted is not at all generous and tries hard to avoid spending money :
▪ ‘I don’t think I’ll bother getting them a present.’ ‘Don’t be so tight!’
▪ Don’t even ask Dad. You know how tight-fisted he is about these kinds of things.
▪ a tight-fisted boss
tight with money
▪ Even as a young man, Paul was notoriously tight with his money.
▷ penny-pinching /ˈpeni ˌpɪntʃɪŋ/ [adjective]
spending very little, or always spending less than is needed, often because you do not have very much money :
▪ His grandparents were humourless and penny-pinching.
▪ She could finally tolerate no more of his coldness and penny-pinching ways.
▪ Unfortunately we have a penny-pinching local government that spends as little as possible on parks and sports facilities.
3. someone who is not generous
▷ miser /ˈmaɪzəʳ/ [countable noun]
someone who hates spending money, and tries to spend as little as possible, especially someone who stores their money in a secret place :
▪ Everyone said Mr Henny was a miser who had thousands of pounds hidden under his bed.
▪ My uncle was a terrible miser - he would walk in lashing rain rather than pay a bus fare.
▷ skinflint also tightwad especially American /ˈskɪnˌflɪnt, ˈtaɪtwɒdǁ-wɑːd/ [countable noun] informal
someone who hates to spend or give money :
▪ We waited for the old skinflint to find his wallet and pay us our money.
▪ Joe is such a tightwad that he won’t even buy his own newspaper.
▷ cheapskate /ˈtʃiːpskeɪt/ [countable noun] informal
someone who dislikes spending money, and does not care if they behave in an unreasonable way to avoid spending it :
▪ Howard rode with us in the taxi, but the cheapskate didn’t offer to pay any of the fare.
▪ I’m not going out with those cheapskates again - they didn’t buy a drink all night!