economical

[ek-uh-nom-i-kuhl, ee-kuh-]

adjective

1. avoiding waste or extravagance; thrifty.

   an economical meal; an economical use of interior space.

   Synonyms: parsimonious, sparing, provident, saving
   Antonyms: profligate, prodigal, spendthrift, extravagant, wasteful

2. economic.

economical

/ ˌiːkəˈnɒmɪkəl, ˌɛkə- /

adjective

1. using the minimum required; not wasteful of time, effort, resources, etc

   an economical car

   an economical style

2. frugal; thrifty

   she was economical by nature

3. a variant of economic economic economic economic

4. euphemistic,  deliberately withholding information (esp in the phrase economical with the truth )

Other Word Forms

• noneconomical adjective
• noneconomically adverb
• preeconomical adjective
• preeconomically adverb
• pseudoeconomical adjective
• pseudoeconomically adverb
• quasi-economical adjective
• quasi-economically adverb
• uneconomical adjective
• uneconomically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of economical¹

First recorded in 1570–80; economic + -al ¹

Synonym Study

See frugal.

Example Sentences

Hollywood studios have for years been moving their productions to states and countries outside of California in pursuit of government subsidies that make filmmaking more economical.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"We selected materials that were already considered biocompatible and that would be relatively economical and simple to use, so that our methods could be adopted easily by other scientists," Heilshorn said.

Read more on Science Daily

It’s an economical name: just three letters, and two of them are the same.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"It's very economical; you can pump out a lot," she says, noting that if the bacterium is producing something toxic to the cells, tolerance can often be engineered in.

Read more on BBC

No 10 sources believe Mandelson was "economical with the truth" in his answers to the three questions.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• cost-effective 
• efficient 
• practical 
• prudent