Cheapskate Meaning: Definition, Examples and How to Use It
Cheapskate is one of English’s most vivid insults for a familiar character: the person who will not spend money — not on friends, not on occasions, not even, sometimes, on themselves. Collins COBUILD defines it with characteristic bluntness: “If you say that someone is a cheapskate, you think that they are mean and do not like spending money,” and marks it [disapproval]. Webster’s New World puts it even more compactly: “a person who is stingy and miserly.”
What makes cheapskate interesting is not just what it means but where it came from — and here honesty requires a warning: the exact origin is uncertain. Dictionaries agree it was coined in American English in the 1890s from cheap + skate, but what skate meant is disputed. This article gives you the verified definition, the pronunciation, the word’s social register (when it is teasing, when it stings), the honest etymology, and the distinctions that matter — cheapskate vs. frugal, thrifty, and miser.
What Does “Cheapskate” Mean? The Dictionary Definitions
| Dictionary | Definition of cheapskate |
|---|---|
| Collins COBUILD | “If you say that someone is a cheapskate, you think that they are mean and do not like spending money.” [disapproval] |
| Webster’s New World (Collins American English) | Noun: “a person who is stingy and miserly.” Also an intransitive verb: “to act in a stingy or miserly way.” |
| Collins English Dictionary | Listed as informal, noun — a miserly, stingy person. |
Three labels in those entries do most of the work: informal (do not use it in formal writing), [disapproval] (it is an insult, not a neutral description), and mean — used here in the British sense of “stingy, ungenerous,” not “unkind” (though cheapskates are rarely accused of generosity of spirit either). Collins’s example sentences show the word’s natural settings: “Tell your husband not to be a cheapskate” and “cheapskate employers” — domestic teasing and workplace grumbling.
Note the verb form, which many people do not know exists: Webster’s New World records to cheapskate — “to act in a stingy or miserly way” — with the regular forms cheapskated, cheapskating. (“They really cheapskated on the office party this year.”) It is rare in print but perfectly formed, and using it will earn you a nod from word lovers.
How to Pronounce “Cheapskate”: UK and US
The pronunciation differs slightly between the varieties, in the familiar ee-vs-i pattern:
- UK: /ˈtʃiːpˌskeɪt/ — CHEEP-skayt, with the long “ee” of sheep
- US: /ˈtʃɪpˌskeɪt/ — CHIP-skayt, with the shorter “i” of ship
Collins gives the British form as (ˈtʃiːpˌskeɪt) and the American as (ˈtʃɪpˌskeɪt). The stress is on the first syllable in both: CHEAP-skate, never “cheap-SKATE.” It is a compound of cheap + skate, and it keeps the stress pattern of the first element.
Is “Cheapskate” Rude? The Social Register
Yes — but with nuance. Collins marks it [disapproval], which means the dictionary considers it an insult by default. Calling a colleague a cheapskate to their face in a meeting would be genuinely offensive. And yet the word lives a double life: among friends, it is one of English’s favourite teasing words. “You only got me a half pint — you cheapskate!” is affectionate mockery, not a relationship-ending accusation. Context and tone do all the work.
Practical guidance:
- Safe: teasing friends and family (“Don’t be such a cheapskate — it’s your round”), joking about yourself (“I’ll admit it, I’m a bit of a cheapskate with phone contracts”), describing fictional characters.
- Risky: workplaces, customer reviews, any formal writing. In a performance review, “is economical with the budget” says what “is a cheapskate” says, without the insult.
- Never: as a serious accusation against someone’s character in a context where you need to be taken seriously — the word’s informality undercuts it. A fraud investigator does not write “the defendant is a cheapskate.”
The informality also means cheapskate sits naturally in dialogue, comedy, and casual prose, and unnaturally in academic or legal writing. Match the word to the room.
Where Does “Cheapskate” Come From? The Honest Etymology
Here is where this article differs from most of what you will find online. Many websites offer confident stories about the origin of cheapskate — the most colourful involving fish markets and mislabelled skate (the flatfish). None of these stories is verified by the dictionaries. Here is what the reliable sources actually say:
- When: coined in American English in the 1890s — Collins’s Webster’s New World entry dates it to 1895–1900; the Online Etymology Dictionary records cheap skate (two words) from 1896.
- What: cheap + skate, where skate was existing American slang.
- What did “skate” mean? This is the uncertain part. The Etymology Dictionary suggests it may come from slang skate meaning a “worn-out horse” (recorded 1894) — “of uncertain origin.” The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms instead glosses it as slang for a “contemptible or low individual,” noting the phrase “largely replaced the earlier cheap John” in late-1800s slang.
So the honest account is: cheapskate = cheap (stingy) + skate (a low person, or possibly a worn-out horse — slang either way), coined in 1890s America. The precise origin of skate remains uncertain, and any story more specific than that — fish markets included — should be treated as folk etymology until a dictionary confirms it. When a word’s origin is genuinely unknown, saying so is more useful than inventing one.
Cheapskate vs. Frugal vs. Thrifty vs. Miser
English has a whole vocabulary for attitudes to money, and each word judges differently. This is the distinction learners ask about most:
| Word | Meaning | Judgment |
|---|---|---|
| Frugal | Careful with money; avoids waste | Positive or neutral — a virtue. “A frugal lifestyle.” |
| Thrifty | Uses money and resources wisely and economically | Positive — implies skill. “Thrifty shoppers.” |
| Cheapskate | Unwilling to spend, especially in ways that affect others | Negative — social stinginess. The cheapskate won’t buy the round. |
| Miser | Hoards money; hates spending even on themselves | Strongly negative — the miser starves amidst plenty (think Scrooge). |
The spectrum runs from virtue to vice: frugal and thrifty are compliments (the frugal person saves wisely; the thrifty person spends cleverly). Cheapskate turns negative because the stinginess becomes social — it is about what you will not spend on others: the tip, the round, the birthday present, the fair share of the bill. Miser goes further into pathology: the miser will not spend even on themselves.
A useful test: a billionaire can be a cheapskate (refusing to tip, haggling over pennies they do not need) but can hardly be called frugal in the same breath — frugal implies the saving serves a purpose, while cheapskate implies the not-spending is the point. And the classic line that separates them: the frugal person brings their own bags to avoid the bag fee; the cheapskate uses the bellhop and stiffs him on the tip.
Cheapskate in Sentences: Real Examples
- “Tell your husband not to be a cheapskate.” (Collins’s example)
- “A 5 percent tip! What a cheapskate!” (the classic restaurant scenario)
- “None of the girls want to go out with him because he’s such a cheapskate.” (stinginess as a social liability)
- “The company cheapskated on safety equipment, and everyone knew it.” (the verb form, institutional stinginess)
- “He’s not a cheapskate, just frugal — there’s a difference.” (the distinction in the wild)
- “Call me a cheapskate, but I refuse to pay £6 for a coffee.” (self-deprecating, humorous use)
Common Mistakes with “Cheapskate”
| Incorrect | Correct | Why |
|---|---|---|
| “cheap skate” | cheapskate | Modern standard spelling is one word (the two-word form is 1890s vintage) |
| “cheepskate” / “cheapskait” | cheapskate | cheap + skate — the second half rhymes with skate, the ice kind |
| “a cheapskates” | “a cheapskate” / “cheapskates“ | Countable noun: a cheapskate, two cheapskates — never “a cheapskates” |
| “Don’t be so cheapskate.” | “Don’t be such a cheapskate.” / “Don’t be so stingy.” | Cheapskate is a noun, not an adjective — use such a cheapskate or the adjective stingy |
| Using it in a formal report | “…is reluctant to authorise expenditure” / “…is highly cost-conscious” | Informal + [disapproval] = wrong register for formal writing |
FAQs About “Cheapskate”
What is the difference between a cheapskate and a miser?
A cheapskate is stingy in a social way — won’t tip, won’t buy the round, won’t pay their share. A miser is stingy as a condition — hoards money and won’t spend even on their own needs or comfort. All misers are cheapskates in effect, but not all cheapskates are misers: the cheapskate at the restaurant may live very comfortably.
Is cheapskate one word or two?
One word in modern English: cheapskate. The two-word form cheap skate is how it appeared in the 1890s when it was coined, but every current dictionary lists the solid form. The plural is cheapskates.
Where does the word “cheapskate” come from?
American slang of the 1890s: cheap + skate, where skate was slang for a low person (or possibly a worn-out horse). The exact origin of skate is uncertain — beware of confident folk etymologies online; the dictionaries do not confirm any of the colourful stories.
Can “cheapskate” be a verb?
Yes. Webster’s New World records to cheapskate — “to act in a stingy or miserly way” — conjugated regularly (cheapskated, cheapskating). It is uncommon but legitimate: “They cheapskated on the wedding catering.”
Is it OK to call someone a cheapskate?
Among friends, teasingly — yes, it is one of English’s standard affectionate insults. Seriously, at work, or in writing — no; Collins marks it [disapproval] and it is informal. If you need the meaning without the sting, use stingy, tight-fisted (still informal), or neutral phrasing like “reluctant to spend.”
What is the opposite of a cheapskate?
A spendthrift (someone who spends wastefully) is the direct opposite. On the positive side, the opposites in spirit are generous (freely giving) and open-handed. Note the asymmetry: English has warm words for generous people but the thrifty-virtue words (frugal, thrifty) are the cheapskate’s respectable cousins, not its opposites.
The Takeaway
A cheapskate is a stingy, miserly person — informal, disapproving, American-born in the 1890s from cheap + the slang skate, whose exact origin remains honestly uncertain. Use it teasingly among friends, never in formal writing, and keep it distinct from its respectable cousins frugal and thrifty (virtues) and its darker relative miser (a pathology, not a habit). One word, not two; noun, not adjective; stress on CHEAP. And if someone calls you a cheapskate with a grin — buy the next round, and the charge is dropped.
