skimp
/ˈskɪmp/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
New Zealand/ˈskɘmp/
skimp verb: to mock, deride, scorn, scold, make fun of.
Verb (1)
skimp (third-person singular simple present skimps, present participle skimping, simple past and past participle skimped)
- To mock, deride, scorn, scold, make fun of.
- I thought Adie was only skimpin' me.
Verb (2)
skimp (third-person singular simple present skimps, present participle skimping, simple past and past participle skimped)
- To slight; to do carelessly; to scamp.
- I got out my wallet and let him have a look at my licenses, detective and driver's. He didn't skimp it, being a lawyer.1955 October, Rex Stout, “Die Like a Dog”, in Three Witnesses, Bantam, published 1994, →ISBN, page 159
- To make insufficient allowance for; to scant; to scrimp.
- The temptation to skimp examinations and maintenance procedures, to save time or overcome staff shortages, must be resisted, and supervisors must insist on strict adherence to maintenance schedules and quality of workmanship.1964 January, “The maintenance of B.R. diesel-electric locomotives”, in Modern Railways, page 54
- Apple’s investment bought something. Its shows feel professional. They look like premium products that no one skimped on.2024 April 27, James Poniewozik, “The Comfortable Problem of Mid TV”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
- To save; to be parsimonious or stingy.
Adjective
skimp (comparative more skimp, superlative most skimp)
Noun
skimp (plural skimps)
- A skimpy or insubstantial thing, especially a piece of clothing.
- I remembered how fierce it hurt and how it blistered. All that pain from just a skimp of flesh.2007, George Ella Lyon, With a Hammer for my Heart, page 192
- Underwear.
- While presenting a rundown of the sexiest soap stars in the world in this week's ZOO, Hollyoaks' Gemma Atkinson very kindly stripped down to her skimps herself.2007, Zoo Today
skimp meaning in Urdu, Bengali, Malayalam and Kannada
skimp in Urdu
- ناکافی, قلیل
skimp in Bengali
- কিপটেমি করা, খুব কম দেওয়া
skimp in Malayalam
- scrimp on, stint on, economize on
- ചിലവുചുരുക്കുക, ലുബ്ധിച്ചു ചെലവാക്കുക, ലോഭിക്കുക, അരിഷ്ടിക്കുക, മിതവ്യയം ശീലിക്കുക, മിതമായി ചെലവാക്കുക
- do hastily, do carelessly
- നിസ്സാരഭാവത്തിൽ ചെയ്യുക, ധൃതിയിൽ ചെയ്യുക, അശ്രദ്ധമായി ചെയ്യുക, തിടുക്കത്തിൽ ചെയ്യുക
skimp in Kannada
- ಹಣ, ಬಿಗಿಹಿಡಿ, ಕಾರ್ಪಣ್ಯದಿಂದ ಒದಗಿಸು
Examples of skimp in a sentence
- It's when, instead of simply raising prices, companies skimp on the goods and services they provide.
- Don’t skimp when it comes to the nail clippers and cuticle pusher.
- His skimped allowance of grey beard was almost of the colour of his skin.
Forms of skimp
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | skimps |
| present participle | skimping |
| past participle | skimped |
| past | skimped |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more skimp |
| superlative | most skimp |
| Noun | |
| plural | skimps |
Origin of skimp
Perhaps of North Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *skimpijaną (“to skip, dance, gesture, mock”). Cognate with Icelandic skimpa (“to scoff at, scorn”), dialectal Swedish skimpa (“to skip, dance”), Faroese skumpa (“to shove, bump”), German schimpfen (“to grumble, scold”), Dutch schimpen (“to mock, make fun of, scold”). Possibly distantly related to change.
Probably related to scamp and scrimp.
Words formed from skimp
Words that rhyme with skimp
Questions about skimp
- What does skimp mean?
- Skimp means to mock, deride, scorn, scold, make fun of.
- What is skimp in Urdu?
- Skimp in Urdu is ناکافی, قلیل. See Skimp meaning in Urdu.
- What part of speech is skimp?
- Skimp can be a verb, an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce skimp?
- Skimp is pronounced /ˈskɪmp/.
- What is the past tense of skimp?
- The past tense of skimp is skimped.
Words near skimp in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: skimp (page history and authors); skimp (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); skimp (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); skimp (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); skimp (Kannada Wiktionary) (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: en-au-skimp.ogg.
Cite this entry: “skimp.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/skimp. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.