English

Adjective

niggardly ‎(comparative more niggardly, superlative most niggardly)

1. (now rare) Withholding for the sake of meanness; stingy, miserly.
   • Bishop Hall

     Where the owner of the house will be bountiful, it is not for the steward to be niggardly.

   • 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, chapter 47

     They were not niggardly, these tramps, and he who had money did not hesitate to share it among the rest.

   • 1958, John Kenneth Galbraith, The Affluent Society (1998 edition), ISBN 9780395925003, p. 186:

     This manifests itself in an implacable tendency to provide an opulent supply of some things and a niggardly yield of others.

Synonyms

• miserly, stingy.
• See also Wikisaurus:stingy

Translations

Adverb

niggardly ‎(comparative more niggardly, superlative most niggardly)

1. (now rare) In a parsimonious way; sparingly, stingily.
   • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, New York 2001, p.105:

     because many families are compelled to live niggardly, exhaust and undone by great dowers, none shall be given at all, or very little […].

Translations

Usage notes

• This term may cause offence as it is easily misinterpreted to be an adverbial form of the racial epithet nigger.^[1] The two words are etymologically unrelated.

References

1. ↑ Racist Language, Real and Imagined, Steven Pinker. February 2, 1999. The New York Times (editorial).

See also

• Controversies about the word "niggardly" on Wikipedia.Wikipedia