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倹吝 (けんりん) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

倹けん吝りん

Meanings

1

na-adjective, noun

greedy and stingy

obsolete term

Obsolete term describing a person who is both covetous and miserly. Not used in modern Japanese; replaced by expressions like 欲張りでけち or 貪欲で吝嗇.

古こ文ぶん書しょには「倹けん吝りんの者もの」という表ひょう現げんが見みられる。
In old documents, the expression 'a greedy and stingy person' can be found.

Written forms

倹けん吝りん
Obsolete kanji form; the word itself is obsolete. 倹吝 is the more common of the two rare spellings.
慳けん吝りん
Variant kanji form, also obsolete.

Kanji

倹frugal, economy, thrifty
吝miserly, stingy, sparing
慳regret, stinginess

Similar words

けち
Common modern word for 'stingy', but lacks the 'greedy' nuance of 倹吝.
欲よく張ばり
Means 'greedy', but does not imply stinginess.
吝りん嗇しょく
Literary/formal word for 'stingy'; closer in register but still used occasionally, unlike the obsolete 倹吝.

Etymology

The exact derivation is uncertain; the kanji 倹 (thrifty) and 吝 (stingy) combine to express the meaning. The variant 慳吝 uses 慳 (also meaning stingy).