Also: Close-fisted
Meaning of Idiom ‘Tight-Fisted’
To be tight-fisted means to be unwilling to spend money; stingy and miserly. 1Pare, May. Body Idioms and More: For Learners of English. United States?: Mayuree Pare, 2005.
Examples Of Use
“I would ask my father for a loan but he’s so tight-fisted I know he would never help.”
“Everyone was surprised when Uncle Paul, the most tight-fisted person in the family, paid for everyone’s dinner at the restaurant.”
“You’d never know Mr. Garrisson was rich. He’s so close-fisted he drives a beat-up junker for a car and lives in a small cottage.”
Origin
Used since at least the latter half of the 1800’s, this idiom alludes to tightly holding on to one’s money as if clenching one’s fist. A similar idiom tight with money has been used since the early 1900’s.
More Idioms Starting with T
- Take Your Lumps
- Throw Down the Gauntlet
- Till the Cows Come Home
- Think Twice
- There’s No Accounting for Tastes
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More Money Related Idioms
- Dirt Cheap Meaning
- Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
- Arm and a Leg, an
- Money Laundering
- Two Pennies to Rub Together, to not have
More Tight Idioms
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Sources
| 1. | ↲ | Pare, May. Body Idioms and More: For Learners of English. United States?: Mayuree Pare, 2005. |