Unwilling to spend money; stingy or miserly in a way that suggests greed.
From 'close' (meaning tight or restricted) plus 'fisted,' suggesting a closed fist that holds money tightly. The metaphor of a closed fist for greed appears in many languages.
This word is brilliant because our language uses hands and body positions to describe personality traits—'open-handed' is generous, 'closefisted' is stingy, showing how we map financial behavior onto our bodies!
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