Nearby Words

miser's

[mahy-zer] Origin

mi·ser

[mahy-zer]
noun
1.
a person who lives in wretched circumstances in order to save and hoard money.
2.
a stingy, avaricious person.
3.
Obsolete. a wretched or unhappy person.

Origin:
1535–45; < Latin: wretched


2. skinflint, tightwad, pinchpenny.

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Miser's is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
Dictionary.com Unabridged

Miser, The

noun (French, L'Avare),
a comedy (1668) by Molière.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

miser
1540s, "miserable person, wretch," from L. miser (adj.) "unhappy, wretched," of unknown origin. Original sense now obsolete; main modern meaning of "money-hoarding person" first recorded c.1560, from presumed unhappiness of such people. Besides general wretchedness, the L. word connoted also "intense
EXPAND
erotic love" (cf. slang got it bad "deeply infatuated") and hence was a favorite word of Catullus. In Gk. a miser was kyminopristes, lit. "a cumin seed splitter." In Mod.Gk., he or she might be called hekentabelones, lit. "one who has sixty needles." The Ger. word, filz, lit. "felt," preserves the image of the felt slippers which the miser often wore in caricatures. Lettish mantrausis "miser" is lit. "money-raker."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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