miser
pronunciation
How to pronounce miser in British English: UK [ˈmaɪzə(r)]
How to pronounce miser in American English: US [ˈmaɪzər]
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- Noun:
- a stingy hoarder of money and possessions (often living miserably)
Word Origin
- miser (n.)
- 1540s, "miserable person, wretch," from Latin miser (adj.) "unhappy, wretched, pitiable, in distress," of unknown origin. Original sense now obsolete; main modern meaning of "money-hoarding person" recorded 1560s, from presumed unhappiness of such people. Besides general wretchedness, the Latin word connoted also "intense erotic love" (compare slang got it bad "deeply infatuated") and hence was a favorite word of Catullus. In Greek a miser was kyminopristes, literally "a cumin seed splitter." In Modern Greek, he might be called hekentabelones, literally "one who has sixty needles." The German word, filz, literally "felt," preserves the image of the felt slippers which the miser often wore in caricatures. Lettish mantrausis "miser" is literally "money-raker."
Synonym
Example
- 1. Being a minimalist to me , is not being a miser .
- 2. The selfish old miser had a cold nature .
- 3. The miser was despised by everyone in the city .
- 4. Teller demonstrated miser 's dream at the magic of consciousness symposium in las vegas .
- 5. It was on this day that charlie told me about the death of old roucolle the miser , who had once lived in the quarter .