penuriousness
nounEtymology From penurious + -ness.
1
The quality of being penurious.
- In Dickens' A Christmas Carol, the character Ebenezer Scrooge is renowned for his penuriousness.
- Covetouſneſs is the root of penuriouſneſs and baſeneſs, it hinders hoſpitality;1671, Thomas Watson, The Beatitudes, page 271:
1 more example
- Giving that up, she took a broom and a duster and went upstairs to housemaid Mrs Dibble's bedroom, with her head tied up in a coloured scarf. It was a dusty, snuffy job, for penuriousness in Mrs Dibble refused to throw anything away, including dirt, and if anything fell on the floor it remained there.1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 32:
- Synonyms
- cheapness, frugality, miserliness, thriftiness