penurious
/pəˈnjʊɹ.i.əs/adjective
penurious is spelled P-E-N-U-R-I-O-U-S: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 37 million words in written English, the 187,122nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, penurious means “Miserly; excessively cheap” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in penurious?
| Letters | 9: P-E-N-U-R-I-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 37 million words; the 187,122nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is penurious?
Penurious appears about once in every 37 million words in written English, the 187,122nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce penurious?
- /pəˈnjʊə.ɹi.əs/
- /pəˈnjɔː.ɹi.əs/
- US /pəˈnjʊɹ.i.əs/
Penurious has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-penurious.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with penurious?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as penurious from its last stressed vowel (/ʊɹiəs/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of penurious
- more penurious comparative
- most penurious superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does penurious mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Miserly; excessively cheap.
The old man died a penurious wretch; eighty-thousand dollars in the mattress and as many holes in the roof.
- 2
Not bountiful; thin; scant.
The penurious stew would have been more accurately labelled broth.
- 3
Impoverished; wanting for money.
The poor penurious horde, naught in the cooking pot and naught in the belly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does penurious come from?
From Medieval Latin pēnūriōsus. See penury from Latin penuria (“want”), related to paene (“scarcely”), c. 1400. Compare French pénurie.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).