Scrooge - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms (2024)

A scrooge is a person who is stingy with money: scrooges would rather do anything than part with a buck.

The novels of Charles Dickens have contributed more than a dozen words that found their way into everyday language. Scrooge, the chief character from A Christmas Carol, is perhaps the best-known of them all. Like the character, a scrooge is a selfish person who doesn't like giving or spending. Scrooges keep a tight hold on every penny, even if they’re rich. You can also call a scrooge a miser or skinflint. Someone generous is the opposite of a scrooge.

Definitions of scrooge

  1. noun

    a selfish person who is unwilling to give or spend

    synonyms:churl, nigg*rd, skinflint
    see moresee less
    types:
    pinchgut

    a nigg*rdly person who starves himself (and others)

    type of:
    hoarder

    a person who accumulates things and hides them away for future use

Word Family

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Scrooge - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms (2024)

FAQs

What is a meaning of Scrooge? ›

Britannica Dictionary definition of SCROOGE. [count] informal. : a selfish and unfriendly person who is not willing to spend or give away money — usually singular.

What is the synonyms of Scrooge? ›

You can also call a scrooge a miser or skinflint.

Which word best describes Scrooge? ›

Description. Charles Dickens describes Scrooge as "a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!

What is Scrooge's first name? ›

Ebenezer Scrooge, fictional character, the miserly protagonist of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol (1843). Despite his transformation at the end of the story, the character is remembered as the embittered miser and not as the reformed sinner, and “Scrooge” has entered the English language as a synonym for a miser.

What is Scrooge a real person? ›

But in A Christmas Carol the great English novelist did invent the miser Ebenezer Scrooge, based — as with almost every character he created — on a real person. Yet Dickens also did this man an injustice: the original Scrooge was rich and frugal but he was remarkably generous and built large parts of Georgian London.

What made Scrooge so mean? ›

He's greedy, stingy, surly and, in the case of "A Muppet Christmas Carol," looks an awful lot like Michael Caine. But it turns out there may be a big reason Scrooge is such a miser. The theory: Scrooge is so stingy because he lived through the Napoleonic Wars and knows what economic hardship is really like.

What are some synonyms word? ›

List of Synonyms
WordSynonym-1Synonym-2
BreakFractureWreck
BrightSparklingShimmering
CalmQuietPeaceful
ComeApproachAdvance
15 more rows

What type of word is Scrooge? ›

A miserly, selfish person. Ebenezer Scrooge, a character in Dickens's A Christmas Carol.

Where is Scrooge from? ›

Scrooge McDuck is a cartoon character created in 1947 by Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company. Appearing in Disney comics, Scrooge is a Scottish-American anthropomorphic Pekin duck. Like his nephew Donald Duck, he has a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet.
...
Scrooge McDuck
OriginGlasgow, Scotland
NationalityScottish
16 more rows

What are three characteristics of Scrooge? ›

The Christmas Carol Scrooge Character Analysis

The main character Scrooge is a nasty, harsh, and cruel person, transformed to a kind, everyday person. He learns how to become a kind person, and treat people kindly and generously. Scrooge starts out as a nasty person but is transformed into an everyday kind person.

What is Scrooge famous line? ›

Scrooge: “Bah, humbug!

How does the writer describe Scrooge? ›

We trust the narrator and know instantly that Scrooge is a man who is miserly and unpleasant. When Dickens first presents Scrooge he describes him as 'Hard and sharp as flint'. The simile likens the character to something that the reader can recognise. We see that Scrooge is tough and unbreakable.

Who is Scrooge father? ›

Franklin Scrooge is the posthumous main antagonist of the 2019 British television miniseries A Christmas Carol, which is based on the 1843 novella of the same name by the late Charles Dickens. He is Ebenezer and Lottie Scrooge's abusive father, who is responsible for much of the former's cruelty and misanthropy.

Who married Scrooge? ›

In Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol, the Ghost of Christmas past shows us the young Ebenezer engaged to be married to Belle. Troubled over the cost of the wedding, he repeatedly delays it, which leads Belle eventually to call off the engagement and marry another.

Was Scrooge married? ›

Personal Data: Ebenezer Scrooge is an approximately 50-year-old Caucasian male. He is single and has never been married.

Is Scrooge a villain or hero? ›

In a christmas carol, Scrooge is seen as a villain due to his unsociable behaviour.

Who did the original Scrooge? ›

Seymour Hicks first played Scrooge onstage in 1901 and it became his most popular role. Throughout his career he played it over a thousand times, often at fund-raising benefits.

Where did Scrooge live? ›

In the story, Scrooge's Lime Street dwelling is described as being: “A gloomy suite of rooms, in a lowering pile of building up a yard, where it had little business to be… The yard was so dark that even Scrooge, who knew its every stone, was fain to grope with his hands…”

What is the theme of Scrooge? ›

In this story of a miserly man, we are presented with ideas of greed, forgiveness and tricky concepts of time, as well as themes of generosity and compassion. Three main themes include: Christmas. redemption.

How is Scrooge evil? ›

He is a cruel investor whose greedy nature and belief that all humanity is evil causes many deaths and misery for his employees. With the aid of his deceased business partner Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, he must repent from his sins or else suffer eternal damnation.

What are 5 good synonyms? ›

synonyms for good
  • acceptable.
  • excellent.
  • exceptional.
  • favorable.
  • great.
  • marvelous.
  • positive.
  • satisfactory.

What are 8 synonyms? ›

What is another word for eight?
eightsomeoctameter
octetoctrain
octupletsoctad
octarchyoctave
octupletogdoad

What are 2 synonyms for synonym? ›

synonyms for synonym
  • equivalent.
  • metonym.

How do spell Scrooge? ›

Scrooge.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scrooge.

How do you use Scrooge in a sentence? ›

Scrooge in a Sentence

1. The young boy was being such a scrooge when he complained and made grouchy comments to his friends. 2. When the scrooge of a teacher entered the classroom, he talked down to the students and accepted no excuses.

Is Scrooge a noun? ›

SCROOGE (noun) definition and synonyms | Macmillan Dictionary.

When was Scrooge alive? ›

Ebenezer Scrooge (born February 7, 1786) is the main character in Charles Dickens' tale, A Christmas Carol. He is a very cold-hearted, selfish elderly man, who has no love for Christmas, children, family, or anything that even resembles happiness.

What was Scrooge's last name? ›

Most people are familiar with Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol and the central character Scrooge, but not many will know that Ebenezer Scrooge was based on an Edinburgh worthy and Scottish surname. Dickens visited Edinburgh in 1841 and while passing time visited the graveyard of the Canongate Church.

When was Scrooge born? ›

Though Dickens created him in 1843, Scrooge's birthday, according to fandom.com, is Feb. 7, 1786.

What is the message of Scrooge? ›

Through Ebenezer Scrooge and his ghostly visitations, Dickens advances his concerns of what may happen to society in the absence of immediate changes – the poor getting poorer, the sick getting sicker, the lower classes trapped in a spiral of poverty, a widening gulf between those with much and those with little.

Where does Scrooge come from? ›

DICKENS invented the name Scrooge for his miserly main character in our favourite festive story, A Christmas Carol. Since then, it has become a common term. So what does it mean? We like to think it's a grouchy old person, the sort who doesn't answer the door to carol singers.

What does Scrooge look like? ›

In the first chapter Dickens introduces Scrooge and he is the main character of the story. Scrooge had old features and the cold within him froze his old features. “It had nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red and his thin lips blue.

What was Scrooge's famous line? ›

Scrooge: “Bah, humbug!

What does Scrooge value in life? ›

What does Scrooge value in life? love of money. - Pays Cratchit a meager salary even though he can afford more.

Who is the father of Scrooge? ›

Franklin Scrooge is the posthumous main antagonist of the 2019 British television miniseries A Christmas Carol, which is based on the 1843 novella of the same name by the late Charles Dickens. He is Ebenezer and Lottie Scrooge's abusive father, who is responsible for much of the former's cruelty and misanthropy.

When did Scrooge become a word? ›

The character Ebenezer Scrooge came first, brought to life in Charles Dickens's extremely popular story A Christmas Carol, published in 1843. By 1899 the term “scrooge,” meaning a miserly person, had entered into usage.

Is Scrooge married? ›

Personal Data: Ebenezer Scrooge is an approximately 50-year-old Caucasian male. He is single and has never been married.

Is Scrooge an old man? ›

A Christmas Carol is a play about a mean-spirited and selfish old man, Ebenezer Scrooge, who hates Christmas. One cold Christmas Eve, Scrooge is unkind to the people who work for him, then refuses to give to charity, and then is rude to his nephew when he invites him to spend Christmas with him.

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