niggard
[ˈnɪɡəd]US[ˈnɪɡɚd]
niggard adjective: sparing; stinting; parsimonious.
Adjective
niggard (comparative more niggard, superlative most niggard)
- Sparing; stinting; parsimonious.
- Miserly or stingy.
- It was, however, the pleasure of his niggard and unhappy fortune, that in seeking a place proper for his accommodation, he and Dapple tumbled into a deep and very dark pit, among a number of old buildings.1755, Tobias Smollett, chapter III, in The History and Adventures of the Renowned Don Quixote, translated from the original Spanish of Cervantes, volume II
- [H]is heart swelled within him, as he sat at the head of his own table, on the occasion of the house-warming, dispensing with no niggard hand the gratuitous viands and unlimited beer, which were at once to symbolise and inaugurate the hospitality of his mansion.1852, William, Robert Chambers, Chambers' Edinburgh Journal
Noun
niggard (plural niggards)
- A miser or stingy person; a skinflint.
- Then beautious nigard why dooſt thou abuſe / The bountious largeſſe giuen thee to giue?1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 4”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC, lines 5–6
- All his pleasures were social; and while health and fortune smiled upon him, he was no niggard either of his time or talents to those who needed them.1618, John Taylor, The Pennyles Pilgrimage or The Money-lesse Perambulation of John Taylor
- Synonyms:
- carl, cheapass, cheapie, cheapskate, cheapo, churl, clutchfist, el cheapo, last of the big spenders, magpie
- A false bottom in a grate, used for saving fuel.
- It was evening: he ordered a fire and lights; and, leaning his face on his hand as he contemplated the fitful and dusky upbreakings of the flame through the bars of the niggard and contracted grate […]1833, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Godolphin
- Cooking apparatus, adapted for an opening eight feet wide, by five feet high, and containing an open-fire roasting range, with sliding spit-racks and winding cheek or niggard;1851, From a catalog of the Great Exhibition
Verb
niggard (third-person singular simple present niggards, present participle niggarding, simple past and past participle niggarded)
- To hoard; to act stingily.
- Within thine owne bud burieſt thy content, / And tender chorle makſt waſt in niggarding: […]1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 1”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC
- Synonyms:
- amass, amound, engross, get up, hoard, intreasure, packrat, rathole, squirrel away, uphoard
niggard meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
niggard in Hindi
- niggard, stingy, scant
- बख़ील baxīl
niggard in Tamil
- பிசினாறி, கருமி, கஞ்சன், கஞ்சத்தனமான
niggard in Urdu
- بخیل, کمینہ, کنجوس, لالچی
niggard in Bengali
- নীচাশয় কৃপণ ব্যক্তি, পিশাচ
More languagesFewer languages
- niggard in Kannada
- ಜಿಪುಣ, ಜೀನ, ಕೃಪಣ, ಲೋಭಿ
- niggard in Assamese
- বাঢ়ৈটোকা barhoitüka
Examples of niggard in a sentence
- ‘No niggard are you, Éomer,’ said Aragorn, ‘to give thus to Gondor the fairest thing in your realm!’1955, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Return of the King, Book VI, Chapter 6 "Many Partings"
- Neither this nor the Brompton house have a kitchen-range (that is, Grate like the Miles's), but only a grate with moveable niggards etc.1834 May 21, Thomas Carlyle, Jane Welsh Carlyle, Lady Gertrude Hoffmann Bliss, Thomas Carlyle: Letters to His Wife, published 1953, page...
- A niggard was a movable side to the kitchen grate which could be wound up with a handle so as to make the fire […]1979, Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, volume 109, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, page 15:
Synonyms of niggard
- cheapass
- cheapie
- cheapskate
- cheapo
- churl
- el cheapo
- last of the big spenders
- magpie
- miser
- moneygrubber
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of niggard
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more niggard |
| superlative | most niggard |
| Noun | |
| plural | niggards |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | niggards |
| present participle | niggarding |
| past participle | niggarded |
| past | niggarded |
Origin of niggard
From Middle English nigard, nygard (“miser”), from nig (“niggardly person”), possibly of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Icelandic hnøggr (“miserly, stingy”), Old Norse *hniggw, with descendants Swedish njugg (“stingy”), dialectal Swedish niggla (“be stingy”), dialectal Norwegian nigla. Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *hnauwjaz, source of Old English hneaw (“stingy”), replaced by Middle English nig. Possibly cognate to niggle (“miser”). Compare German Knicker (“niggard”), knickerig (“niggardly”). Unrelated to the word nigger, but see the usage notes.
Words formed from niggard
Questions about niggard
- What does niggard mean?
- Niggard means sparing; stinting; parsimonious.
- What is niggard in Hindi?
- Niggard in Hindi is बख़ील (baxīl). See Niggard meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use niggard in a sentence?
- ‘No niggard are you, Éomer,’ said Aragorn, ‘to give thus to Gondor the fairest thing in your realm!’
- What part of speech is niggard?
- Niggard can be an adjective, a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce niggard?
- Niggard is pronounced [ˈnɪɡɚd] (US).
Words near niggard in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: niggard (page history and authors); बख़ील (Hindi) (page history and authors); niggard (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); niggard (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); niggard (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); niggard (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); বাঢ়ৈটোকা (Assamese) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-niggard.wav.
Cite this entry: “niggard.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/niggard. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.