Also called: Cramped thumb · The miser's thumb

Where on the hand: At the thumb's natural resting position against the side of the hand.

What it looks like: The thumb is held close and cramped against the hand, barely opening even when the hand is relaxed.

Cheiro: *"the person is timid, easily frightened by both people and circumstances, narrow-minded in his views, and miserly in his habits… the thumbs of all misers are 'tied in' and cramped-looking."*

Western reading: Cheiro's own term and one of his most quoted single observations.

Read with care: A sweeping character claim ("the thumbs of all misers") stated as a universal; report it as Cheiro's doctrine.

the person is timid, easily frightened by both people and circumstances, narrow-minded in his views, and miserly in his habits… the thumbs of all misers are 'tied in' and cramped-looking.Cheiro, Palmistry for All (1916)