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吝啬 (lìn sè) — stingy, miserly

Definition

吝啬 (lìnsè) is a strong, written-style adjective for 'stingy' with money. It's more literary than 小气 and focuses only on unwillingness to spend, not on pettiness of character.

adjective
stingymiserly

Examples

  • 吝啬。
    Tā duì qián fēi cháng lìn sè.
    He is very stingy with money.
  • 吝啬。
    Nà ge lìn sè de lǎo bǎn cóng lái bù qǐng yuán gōng chī fàn.
    That stingy boss never treats employees to meals.
  • 吝啬，。
    Wǒ méi xiǎng dào tā zhè me lìn sè, lián yí kuài qián dōu bú yuàn yì jiè gěi wǒ.
    I didn't expect him to be so stingy that he wouldn't even lend me a dollar.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

吝lìnstingy
啬sèstingy

Both 吝 (stingy) and 啬 (stingy) express reluctance to spend, so 吝啬 means miserly.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 嗇; 啬 is its simplified writing.

  • 來來lái
  • 㐭㐭㐭

The traditional form 嗇 combines 來 (wheat) with 㐭 (granary), while the simplified 啬 is a later shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Personality & Traits

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