Word of the Week – parsimonious

One of the fascinating aspects, and for wordsmiths advantages, of the English language are the multiple synonyms for some words. While they may not all have the same degree of meaning or intensity, they certainly give a writer some options.

Take parsimonious, for example. Not familiar with it?

How about stingy? Cheap? Tight? Tightwad?

Or if you’re feeling generous (an oxymoron in this situation) you could describe your tightfisted friend as frugal, economical, or stewardly.

Parsimonious falls on the more positive side of the continuum, coming as it does from the Latin root pars which means to spare or to save.

On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being curmudgeonly and 10 being provident, here are a dozen more ways to describe that friend or in-law who never seems to want to pony up his share:

• mean
• miserly
• avaricious (greedy, covetous)
• money-grubbing
• penny-pinching
• hoarding
• scrimping
• chintzy
• shrewd
• vigilant
• thrifty
• prudent

Your turn. What word(s) do you use to describe a spendthrift?