Word.ws English Dictionary

strait-handed

strait-handed adjective: parsimonious; sparing; niggardly.

Adjective

strait-handed (comparative more strait-handed, superlative most strait-handed)

  1. (archaic) parsimonious; sparing; niggardly
    • It is observable that is noted of those first converts, who were before strait-hearted and strait-handed, but when once made partakers of the Grace of God, how much they were enlarged, Neither was there any among them that lacked; for as many as were possessours of lands or houses, sold them, and...1643, Daniel Cawdrey, The good man a publick good
    • The Fear of passing for a Prodigal makes this Man so wretchedly covetous and strait-handed, that he will not assist the sincerest Friend on the most pressing Occasion.1743, Joseph Davidson, transl., The Satires, Epistles and Art of Poetry of Horace, page 28

Forms of strait-handed

comparativemore strait-handed
superlativemost strait-handed
alternative formstraithanded

Origin of strait-handed

From strait + handed.

Words formed from strait-handed

Questions about strait-handed

What does strait-handed mean?
Strait-handed means parsimonious; sparing; niggardly.
What part of speech is strait-handed?
Strait-handed is an adjective.

Words near strait-handed in the dictionary

  1. Strait of Messina
  2. Strait of Otranto
  3. Strait of Sangar
  4. Strait of Sicily
  5. Strait of Tiran
  6. strait-handed
  7. strait-handedness
  8. strait-jacket
  9. strait-jackets
  10. strait-laced
  11. strait-waistcoat

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: strait-handed (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.

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