scrimp

Noun

A pinching miser; a niggard.

Verb

1. (sometimes, transitive, with-on) To make too small or short; to shortchange.
2. (transitive) To limit or straiten; to put on short allowance.
3. (intransitive) To be frugal, whether to a reasonable and wise extent or to a miserly and unwise extent.

Adj

Short; scanty; curtailed.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/skɹɪmp/

Etymology

Cognate with Old English: sċrimman

In summary

From Scots scrimp (“meager”), from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German schrimpen (“to shrivel up, wrinkle”), from Old Dutch *scrimpan, from Frankish *skrimpan, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *skrimpaną (“to shrink”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off”), related to Old English sċrimman (“to shrink”) and sċrincan (“to shrivel up”). Doublet of shrink, shrimp, and shrim.

Synonyms

frugal

skimp

economize

stint

scanty

save

stingy

examine

exiguous

inadequate

inefficient

insufficient

lay away

lift

little

meager

meagre

minor

miser

niggard

petit

petty

piddling

pinch

puny

question

❓

razee

scant

scrimpy

short

skip

slight

small

snarf

sneak

snitch

snub

tightwad

truncate

walk off

bag

muckworm

belittle

be stingy

conserve

dwarf

economise

enquire

Translations

escatimar

économiser

bemessen

escurçar

anfragen

befragen

❓

acurçar

erkundigen

geizig sein

nachforschen

prüfen

recherchieren

überprüfen

untersuchen

acurtar