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Skimpy vs Niggardly - What's the difference?

skimpy | niggardly | Related terms |

Skimpy is a related term of niggardly.


As adjectives the difference between skimpy and niggardly

is that skimpy is small or inadequate; not generous, or of a garment, very small, light, or revealing while niggardly is withholding for the sake of meanness; stingy, miserly.

As a noun skimpy

is (australia|western australia) a barmaid who wears little clothing.

As an adverb niggardly is

in a parsimonious way; sparingly, stingily.

skimpy

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Small or inadequate; not generous, or of a garment, very small, light, or revealing.
    • Have you ever seen such a skimpy bikini?
    They served a pretty skimpy portion of ice cream as the free birthday dessert.

    Noun

    (skimpies)
  • (Australia, Western Australia) A barmaid who wears little clothing.
  • * 2000 , Australian Journal of Mining , page 2,
    • It's a curious mix: weatherworn miners, fresh faced bankers, and a couple of g-stringed skimpies .
  • * 2007 , Terry Carter, Lara Dunston, Perth & Western Australia , Lonely Planet, page 159,
    • For an anthropological experience, the front bar at the Exchange Hotel provides a window into some locals? lives at all hours of the day, with skimpies , TV sports and mine workers chain-drinking.
  • * 2010 , Kathy Marks, Tears of the Sun'', Robert Drewe (editor), ''The Best Australian Essays 2010 , page 239,
    • ‘There are thirty-two hotels in Kalgoorlie, and only seven would have skimpies [scantily clad barmaids].’

    Derived terms

    * skimpy work

    niggardly

    English

    (Controversies about the word "niggardly")

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • 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 ,
    • They were not niggardly , these tramps, and he who had money did not hesitate to share it among the rest.
  • * 1958 , , 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

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • In a parsimonious way; sparingly, stingily.
  • *, 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 […].

    Usage notes

    * This term may cause offence as it is easily misinterpreted to be an adverbial form of the racial epithet (nigger). Racist Language, Real and Imagined , Steven Pinker. February 2, 1999. The New York Times (editorial). The two words are etymologically unrelated.

    References

    See also

    * (Controversies about the word "niggardly")