How to Use miserly in a Sentence

miserly

adjective
  • He was given a miserly raise.
  • Some people are rich but miserly; most people are lazy and in debt.
    — Edmund White, Harper's magazine, 6 Jan. 2020
  • Partly as a result, the stock trades for a miserly three times earnings.
    — John Dorfman, Forbes, 3 Oct. 2022
  • The very name Scrooge has become a global synonym for stingy or miserly….
    — Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 22 Sep. 2022
  • Scrooge, of course, starts the story as a miserly grouch, and ends it charitably.
    — Michael Paulson, New York Times, 14 Nov. 2019
  • The risk for automakers is that gas prices will spike and consumers will want more fuel-miserly cars again.
    — Eric D. Lawrence, USA TODAY, 26 Apr. 2018
  • Viewed from a certain miserly angle, this may sound fiscally clever.
    — Michael Taylor, San Antonio Express-News, 29 Sep. 2021
  • The law says that miserly little one-time death benefit can only be paid to a surviving spouse.
    — Tom Margenau, Dallas News, 6 Dec. 2020
  • The late-October day was peeled and cool; the light was miserly by six, the last remnants clawed in weak scratches across the sky.
    — Kevin Barry, The New Yorker, 10 Oct. 2016
  • If even the most miserly, miserable of characters has the potential for change, then so too does the reader.
    — Laura Zornosa, Time, 18 Nov. 2022
  • But even more significant than the causes of those miserly years at Wrigley Field was the effect.
    — Brian Costa, WSJ, 4 Nov. 2016
  • From my experience, there is nobody more miserly than the FBI.
    — John Sipher, Slate Magazine, 11 Sep. 2017
  • Mileage-miserly Japanese cars got a firm foothold in the American market.
    — Los Angeles Times, 22 Mar. 2022
  • But if raising the minimum wage to $25 an hour would actually help all workers, why be so miserly about it?
    — Adam Summers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Oct. 2025
  • The tax credit for these startup expenses is currently capped at a miserly $500 per year for the first three years.
    — Robert C. Pozen, WSJ, 19 Nov. 2018
  • Among those who bowled at least 300 deliveries, only four conceded runs at a more miserly rate.
    — M.j., The Economist, 18 July 2019
  • The message, inhospitable and miserly, feels far away from the world of Nichols’s graceful domestic images.
    — Sarah Blackwood, The New Yorker, 18 July 2021
  • The song, in which Scrooge’s young love bids him a tearful goodbye due to his miserly ways, was cut from the film’s original theatrical release.
    — Katcy Stephan, Variety, 11 Dec. 2022
  • Add to this the implication that one is being miserly to the less fortunate if another donation isn’t made.
    — Judith Martin, The Mercury News, 1 May 2024
  • Eighty-foot-tall trees growing in a narrow tree lawn ― that miserly little strip between the street and the sidewalk ― means that at least one side of the tree can't put down much in the way of roots.
    — Paul Cappiello, The Courier-Journal, 8 Mar. 2023
  • Mobile versions for laptops are more miserly but still draw up to 175 W, which can quickly drain a laptop battery.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 17 Nov. 2025
  • Enter Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly old man who is visited by four ghosts on Christmas Eve.
    — CBS News, 21 Dec. 2019
  • The Reserve Bank of Australia is hoping Aussies don't get too complacent about their miserly pay gains.
    — Chris Bourke, Bloomberg.com, 21 June 2017
  • Many customers were insulted by the miserly, one-time rebates CPS announced in April.
    — Greg Jefferson, San Antonio Express-News, 11 June 2021
  • The latest Wilderness model will sport the most miserly powertrain of all the vehicles in that sub-brand, Subaru says.
    — Marty Padgett, The Drive, 1 Apr. 2026
  • Asking for gas money for a party that your daughter was attending seems to Miss Manners a bit miserly and ungracious.
    — Washington Post, 28 June 2021
  • How much is unclear, but with the Portuguese’s contract not due to expire until June 2027, the amounts won’t be miserly.
    — Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
  • Directing the classic tale about four ghosts visiting a miserly old man on Christmas Eve is something Audrain has wanted to do for a long time.
    — Sheryl Devore, chicagotribune.com, 17 Nov. 2021
  • Romano loaded the bases with no outs in the first – hurt a bit by some miserly umpiring by Pat Hoberg – but managed to allow just one run to score, on a sacrifice fly.
    — Zach Buchanan, Cincinnati.com, 22 Sep. 2017
  • Newell’s Ghost of Christmas Present, a more hectoring spirit, will take over to reveal the tragic consequence of a miserly life.
    — Los Angeles Times, 3 Dec. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'miserly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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