Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Miser
Mi′ser
(mī′zẽr)
, Noun.
[L.
miser
wretched, miserable; cf. Gr. μῖσοσ
hate, μισεῖν
to hate: cf. It. & Sp. misero
wretched, avaricious.] 1.
A wretched person; a person afflicted by any great misfortune.
[Obs.]
Spenser.
The woeful words of a
miser
now despairing. Sir P. Sidney.
2.
A despicable person; a wretch.
[Obs.]
Shak.
3.
A covetous, grasping, mean person; esp., one having wealth, who lives miserably for the sake of saving and increasing his hoard.
As some lone
Bends at his treasure, counts, recounts it o’er.
miser
, visiting his store,Bends at his treasure, counts, recounts it o’er.
Goldsmith.
5.
A kind of large earth auger.
Knight.
Webster 1828 Edition
Miser
MI'SER
,Noun.
1.
A wretch; a mean fellow.2.
An extremely covetous person; a sordid wretch; a niggard; one who in wealth makes himself miserable by the fear of poverty. [This is the only sense in which it is now used.] No silver saints by dying misers given.
Definition 2025
miser
miser
See also: misër
English
Noun
miser (plural misers)
- (pejorative) A person who hoards money rather than spending it; one who is cheap or extremely parsimonious.
- Ebenezer Scrooge was a stereotypical miser, he spent nothing he could save; neither giving to charity nor enjoying his wealth.
Synonyms
- cheapskate
- penny-father
- scrooge
- skinflint
- See Wikisaurus:miser
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
skinflint or scrooge
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See also
Anagrams
French
Verb
miser
- (gambling) to bet (place a bet)
Conjugation
Conjugation of miser (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | miser | avoir misé | |||||
| gerund | en misant | en ayant misé | |||||
| present participle | misant /mi.zɑ̃/ |
||||||
| past participle | misé /mi.ze/ |
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| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il | nous | vous | ils | |
| simple tenses |
present | mise /miz/ |
mises /miz/ |
mise /miz/ |
misons /mi.zɔ̃/ |
misez /mi.ze/ |
misent /miz/ |
| imperfect | misais /mi.zɛ/ |
misais /mi.zɛ/ |
misait /mi.zɛ/ |
misions /mi.zjɔ̃/ |
misiez /mi.zje/ |
misaient /mi.zɛ/ |
|
| past historic1 | misai /mi.ze/ |
misas /mi.za/ |
misa /mi.za/ |
misâmes /mi.zam/ |
misâtes /mi.zat/ |
misèrent /mi.zɛʁ/ |
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| future | miserai /miz.ʁe/ |
miseras /miz.ʁa/ |
misera /miz.ʁa/ |
miserons /miz.ʁɔ̃/ |
miserez /miz.ʁe/ |
miseront /miz.ʁɔ̃/ |
|
| conditional | miserais /miz.ʁɛ/ |
miserais /miz.ʁɛ/ |
miserait /miz.ʁɛ/ |
miserions /mi.zə.ʁjɔ̃/ |
miseriez /mi.zə.ʁje/ |
miseraient /miz.ʁɛ/ |
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| compound tenses |
present perfect | Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| past anterior1 | Use the past historic tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il | que nous | que vous | qu’ils | |
| simple tenses |
present | mise /miz/ |
mises /miz/ |
mise /miz/ |
misions /mi.zjɔ̃/ |
misiez /mi.zje/ |
misent /miz/ |
| imperfect1 |
misasse /mi.zas/ |
misasses /mi.zas/ |
misât /mi.za/ |
misassions /mi.za.sjɔ̃/ |
misassiez /mi.za.sje/ |
misassent /mi.zas/ |
|
| compound tenses |
past | Use the present subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect1 | Use the imperfect subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | tu | – | nous | vous | – | |
| — | mise /miz/ |
— | misons /mi.zɔ̃/ |
misez /mi.ze/ |
— | ||
| 1literary tenses | |||||||
Anagrams
Latin
Etymology
Of unknown origin. Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *mēwdʰ- (“to complain, be emotional about”), the same root of Latin maereō and Ancient Greek μῖσος (mîsos, “hatred”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈmi.ser/
Adjective
miser m (feminine misera, neuter miserum); first/second declension
Inflection
First/second declension, nominative masculine singular in -er.
| Number | Singular | Plural | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case / Gender | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
| nominative | miser | misera | miserum | miserī | miserae | misera | |
| genitive | miserī | miserae | miserī | miserōrum | miserārum | miserōrum | |
| dative | miserō | miserō | miserīs | ||||
| accusative | miserum | miseram | miserum | miserōs | miserās | misera | |
| ablative | miserō | miserā | miserō | miserīs | |||
| vocative | miser | misera | miserum | miserī | miserae | misera | |
- comparative: miserior, superlative: miserrimus
Derived terms
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Related terms
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Descendants
References
- miser in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- miser in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- Félix Gaffiot (1934), “miser”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
- Meissner, Carl; Auden, Henry William (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
-
(ambiguous) to live a happy (unhappy) life: vitam beatam (miseram) degere
-
(ambiguous) to live a happy (unhappy) life: vitam beatam (miseram) degere
- H. H. Mallinckrodt, Latijn Nederlands woordenboek (Aula n° 24), Utrecht-Antwerpen, Spectrum, 1959 [Latin - Dutch dictionary in Dutch]