悭 (qiān): stingy

Meanings

这个人很悭，一分钱都不肯花。

Qiān

This person is so stingy he is unwilling to spend a single cent.

悭吝就是对钱很小气。

Qiān

Stingy and miserly means grudging with money.

register

悭 is a literary word for stinginess, most often in 悭吝 (miserly). Everyday speech prefers 小气 or 吝啬.

radical

忄 xīn

heart; feeling

忄 is the heart radical 心 in left-side form. Stinginess is a disposition of the heart, so the feeling radical fixes the meaning.

phonetic

坚 jiān

hard; firm

坚 supplies the sound, drifted from jiān to qiān. Its sense of being hard and unyielding also faintly suits a tight-fisted, ungiving heart.

悭 qiān