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一文惜しみ (いちもんおしみ) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

一いち文もん惜おしみ

い

ち

も

ん

お

し

み

Meanings

1

noun

stinginess; miserliness

Describes a person who is stingy even about trivial amounts of money, literally 'grudging a single mon (small coin)'.

彼かれの一いち文もん惜おしみには呆あきれるよ。
I'm amazed at his stinginess over every penny.
一いち文もん惜おしみの百ひゃく知し

ら

ず

と

いう

ことわざ

が

ある

。

There's a proverb: 'Penny wise, pound foolish.'

Written forms

一いち文もん惜おしみ
Standard kanji spelling.
一文惜いちもんおしみ
Variant spelling with 惜み instead of 惜しみ; both are used.

Kanji

一one, one radical (no.1)
文sentence, literature, style
惜pity, be sparing of, frugal

Similar words

けち
けち is a more common and colloquial word for stingy or miserly, while 一文惜しみ is a more specific and somewhat literary term emphasizing pettiness over trivial sums.
吝りん嗇しょく
吝嗇 is a formal, Sino-Japanese term for miserliness, whereas 一文惜しみ is a native Japanese compound with a more vivid, concrete image.

Etymology

Compound of 一文 (one mon, a small old coin) + 惜しみ (grudging, from 惜しむ). Literally 'begrudging a single mon', expressing extreme stinginess.