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しわい Japanese meaning | Kotomora
Meanings 1
i-adjective
stingy ; cheap ; very frugal
usually written using kana alone
Describes a person who is unwilling to spend money or resources, often with a negative nuance. Can also be used for extreme frugality bordering on stinginess.
そんな しわい こと 言い わ ず に 、 少すこ し は 寄き 付ふ し たら どう ？
Don't be so cheap—why not donate a little?
Written forms しわい Usage 95%
Usually written in kana; the kanji form 吝い is rare.
吝しわ い Usage 5%
Rare kanji spelling; learners will almost always encounter the kana form.
Kanji 吝 miserly, stingy, sparing Similar words けち けち is a more common and direct word for 'stingy' or 'miserly', while しわい is less frequent and can carry a nuance of being excessively frugal or tight-fisted in a somewhat old-fashioned or dialectal way.
せこい せこい is a casual, often derogatory term for 'petty' or 'cheap', focusing on small-minded stinginess, whereas しわい is more about general unwillingness to spend.
Etymology The origin is uncertain. It may be related to the classical adjective しわし (shiwashi) meaning 'wrinkled' or 'shrunken', metaphorically extended to a 'tight' or 'stingy' personality, but this is speculative.
