different between insignificant vs niggardly

English

Etymology

From in- (“not”) +? significant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??ns???n?f?k?nt/
• Hyphenation: in?sig?nif?i?cant

Adjective

insignificant (comparative more insignificant, superlative most insignificant)

1. Not significant; not important, inconsequential, or having no noticeable effect.

   Such things are insignificant details compared to the main goal.

2. Without meaning; not signifying anything.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:insignificant

Antonyms

• significant

Derived terms

• insignificance
• insignificantly

Translations

Catalan

Adjective

insignificant (masculine and feminine plural insignificants)

1. insignificant (not important)

   Antonym: significant

Related terms

• insignificança

Further reading

• “insignificant” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “insignificant” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “insignificant” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “insignificant” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Occitan

Adjective

insignificant m (feminine singular insignificanta, masculine plural insignificants, feminine plural insignificantas)

1. insignificant (not important)

   Antonym: significant

Related terms

• insignificança

English

Etymology

niggard +? -ly

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?n???dli/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?n???dli/

Adjective

niggardly (comparative more niggardly, superlative most niggardly)

1. Withholding for the sake of meanness; stingy, miserly.

   Synonyms: miserly, stingy; see also Thesaurus:stingy

   • 1609, Joseph Hall, (paraphrasing Ambrose? in) "No Peace with Rome", in Josiah Pratt (editor), The Works of the Right Reverend Father in God, Joseph Hall, D. D., Vol. IX. Polemical Works, London, (1808), page 57:

     [W]here the owner of the house will be bountiful, it is not for the steward to be niggardly.

   • 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, chapter 47

     They were not niggardly, these tramps, and he who had money did not hesitate to share it among the rest.

   • 1958, John Kenneth Galbraith, The Affluent Society (1998 edition), ?ISBN, p. 186:

     This manifests itself in an implacable tendency to provide an opulent supply of some things and a niggardly yield of others.

Usage notes

• This term may cause offence, especially in the US, as it is easily confused with niggerly, an adverbial form of the racial slur nigger. The two words are etymologically unrelated.

Translations

Adverb

niggardly (comparative more niggardly, superlative most niggardly)

1. (now rare) In a parsimonious way; sparingly, stingily.
   • , New York 2001, p.105:

     because many families are compelled to live niggardly, exhaust and undone by great dowers, none shall be given at all, or very little […].

Translations

Further reading

• Controversies about the word "niggardly" on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

References