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Permanent link for this word: scrooge

Feb 2, 2012

This week's theme
Dickensian characters that became words

This week's words
wellerism
fagin
gamp
scrooge
gradgrind

Scrooge facing Marley's Ghost

Illustration: John Leech (1817-1864)

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

scrooge

PRONUNCIATION:

(skrooj)

MEANING:

noun: A miser.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Ebenezer Scrooge, the mean-spirited, miserly protagonist in Charles Dickens's novel A Christmas Carol. Earliest documented use: 1940.

USAGE:

"John Hymers was not entirely a Scrooge. There were times when he secretly helped poor people and he built a village library."
Sisters Campaigned for a Mixed School at Hymers; Hull Daily Mail (UK); Jan 23, 2012.

See more usage examples of scrooge in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Mistakes are part of the dues that one pays for a full life. -Sophia Loren, actress (b. 1934)

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