Miser

Miser

Noun · /ˈmaɪ.zər/

Definition

A person who hoards money and spends as little as possible; someone excessively unwilling to spend or give; a person who is unhappy, especially through poverty (archaic sense).

Origin

From Latin miser (wretched, unhappy, unfortunate — and by extension, one who makes himself wretched through excessive attachment to money). The Latin miser gives miserable, misery, and commiserate — all from the root sense of wretchedness. The connection being that the miser's wretchedness derives from their obsessive attachment to money — they deprive themselves of pleasure and generosity in order to hoard. The word entered English in the 16th century. The extended sense of any unhappy or wretched person is archaic; the money-hoarding sense is the standard modern meaning.