also: けち
Describes a person who is unwilling to spend money or share resources; can be used as a noun (a miser) or an adjective (stingy).
He always finds fault with other people's opinions.
He's really stingy and has never treated me once.
That cheapskate is calculating the split bill down to the last yen again.
shabby; cheap-looking; poor quality
Used for things that look cheap, worn out, or of low quality; often implies a lack of care or investment.
This suit looks cheap, but it's actually expensive.
I stayed at a shabby hotel and the room smelled musty.
petty; narrow-minded; small-minded
Describes a person's character or attitude as mean-spirited, ungenerous in spirit, or fixated on trivial matters.
With such a petty way of thinking, you'll lose your friends.
I can't stand his small-minded attitude anymore.
Used in set phrases like ケチがつく (to be jinxed) or ケチをつける (to find fault, to put a jinx on something).
A jinx was put on our carefully made plans.
An accident just before departure cast a pall over the trip.
I fell down right before leaving, and it felt like the trip was jinxed.
He's stingy with money and won't even go out for lunch.
With that petty attitude, no one will ever trust you.
せこい is a slangy synonym for ケチ that adds a nuance of sneaky, small-scale cheapness rather than just unwillingness to spend.
けちんぼ is a childish, teasing term for a miser, whereas ケチ is neutral and usable in any register.
ケチ is the common modern word for stingy, while ずるい (in its rare こすい reading) is an old-fashioned or dialectal term for the same trait.
しょっぱい in its slang sense describes someone being tight with money in a specific situation, while けち is the general noun/adjective for a stingy personality.
けち is the more common, blunt word for stinginess, while 渋い in this sense is a milder, less frequent way to say someone is tight-fisted.
けち is a blunt, often negative word for stinginess, while 細かい about money can range from neutral 'careful' to mildly critical.
けち is the common colloquial word for being stingy, while 汚い in this sense carries a stronger tone of moral criticism about someone's greed.
太っ腹 describes someone generous and big-hearted with money, the opposite of a ケチ person who hoards it.
大まか describes a generous, open-handed person, while けち describes someone stingy or overly frugal.
けち describes stinginess or being tight with money, the direct opposite of the openhanded generosity implied by 気前.
Most common spelling in modern usage; katakana is standard for this word.
Hiragana spelling, also common.
Developed from けじ, an ominous sign or unlucky occurrence, also written 怪事. The senses “fault,” “poor quality,” and “stinginess” arose later from this unfavorable meaning.