'tightwad' originates from American English, specifically the words 'tight' and 'wad,' where 'tight' meant 'miserly, ungenerous' (by extension from 'not easily moved or opened') and 'wad' meant 'a roll or bundle of paper money.'

'tight' was used figuratively for 'miserly' by the 17th–18th century; 'wad' came to mean 'a roll of money' in 19th‑century American slang. These combined in late 19th to early 20th‑century U.S. usage to form the noun 'tightwad,' which then spread into general colloquial English.

Initially, it meant a 'miser; one who holds tightly to money,' and it remains primarily a colloquial term for a stingy person in modern usage.