Definition

1. Verb:
   • To be stingy, to be miserly, to be parsimonious: The act of being excessively unwilling to spend money or use resources, often to an unreasonable degree. It implies a tight-fisted, grasping attitude.
   • To pinch pennies, to scrimp and save: To be extremely careful or frugal with money, often focusing on saving even the smallest amounts.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Ông ấy nổi tiếng là người bo siết. (He is famous for being stingy.)
  • Bà chủ bo siết từng đồng một khi trả lương. (The boss pinches every penny when paying salaries.)
  • Đừng bo siết quá khi chi tiêu cho sức khỏe. (Don't be too miserly when spending on your health.)

Advanced Usage

• "bo siết chi tiêu": to tighten spending, to cut back on expenses.
  • Công ty đang bo siết chi tiêu để vượt qua khủng hoảng. (The company is tightening spending to overcome the crisis.)
• Often used with quantifiers like "từng" (each) to emphasize extreme frugality: "bo siết từng xu", "bo siết từng đồng".

Variants and Related Words

• Bo (verb): A more common, colloquial synonym meaning to be stingy.
  • Anh ta bo lắm. (He is very stingy.)
• Hà tiện (adj/verb): Stingy, miserly. A close synonym, sometimes with a stronger negative connotation.
• Keo kiệt (adj): Stingy, parsimonious. Another common synonym.
• Bủn xỉn (adj): Miserly, mean (often used in the Northern dialect).

Synonyms

• Stingy: Unwilling to give or spend; not generous.
• Miserly: Relating to or characteristic of a miser; hoarding wealth.
• Parsimonious: Unwilling to spend money or use resources.
• Penny-pinching: Unwilling to spend money; frugal to an excessive degree.
• Tight-fisted: Not willing to spend or give much money; stingy.

Related Idioms

• Bo siết từng xu / từng đồng: To pinch every penny; to be stingy with every single coin.
  • Sống bo siết từng đồng không phải là cách sống khôn ngoan. (Living by pinching every penny is not a wise way of life.)
• While "bo siết" itself is not typically part of a larger phrasal verb structure, its meaning is central to idioms describing extreme frugality.

1. Be stingy
   • Bo siết từng xu
     To be stingy with every penny