Miserliness

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈmaɪzə(ɹ)linəs/

Definitions

1. A character trait involving extreme unwillingness to spend money or share resources, often resulting in excessive accumulation of wealth combined with deprivation of oneself and others
2. A disposition characterized by an intense reluctance to part with money or assets, leading to hoarding behavior and a lack of generosity towards others
3. A quality of being overly frugal or stingy, which manifests in an unwillingness to invest in oneself or assist those in need

Etymology: Miserliness is a plain English formation: the adjective "miserly" with the suffix "-ness" added to turn a quality into a noun. The suffix itself is very old. It descends from a Proto-Germanic form, *-assuzi, and passed through Old English "-nes" and Middle English "-nesse" before settling into the modern "-ness" that English uses to build countless nouns from adjectives. The base word, "miserly", is the adjective from "miser", and that is where the more interesting history lies. "Miser" came into English from Latin "miser", meaning wretched or unhappy, so the original sense of the root was misery and suffering rather than hoarding money. The idea of a person who suffers in poverty gradually narrowed into a person who refuses to spend. So "miserliness" carries two layers: a suffix that has been a stable part of English for more than a thousand years, and a root whose meaning moved from wretchedness to stinginess.

Synonyms: stinginess, parsimony, tightfistedness, greediness, frugality

Antonyms: generosity, liberality, magnanimity, open-handedness, bounty