frugal

[froo-guhl]

adjective

1. economical in use or expenditure; prudently saving or sparing; not wasteful.

   What your office needs is a frugal manager who can save you money without resorting to painful cutbacks.

   Synonyms: penny-pinching, tight, stingy, miserly, prudent, careful, provident, chary, thrifty
   Antonyms: profligate, prodigal, spendthrift, extravagant, wasteful

2. entailing little expense; requiring few resources; meager; scanty.

   a frugal meal.

   Synonyms: skimpy, sparing, slim, scant
   Antonyms: profuse, lavish, luxurious

frugal

/ ˈfruːɡəl /

adjective

1. practising economy; living without waste; thrifty

2. not costly; meagre

Other Word Forms

• frugality noun
• frugalness noun
• frugally adverb
• nonfrugal adjective
• nonfrugalness noun
• overfrugal adjective
• unfrugal adjective
• unfrugalness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of frugal¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin frūgālis “economical,” derivative of the indeclinable adjective frūgī (dative singular of frūx “produce, fruit”) + -ālis adjective suffix; fruit, -al ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of frugal¹

C16: from Latin frūgālis , from frūgī useful, temperate, from frux fruit

Synonym Study

Frugal, economical, thrifty imply careful and saving use of resources. Frugal emphasizes being saving, sometimes excessively saving, especially in such matters as food or dress: frugal almost to the point of being stingy. Economical implies prudent planning in the disposition of resources so as to avoid unnecessary waste or expense: economical in budgeting household expenditures. Thrifty is a stronger word than economical and adds to it the idea of industry and successful management: a thrifty shopper looking for bargains.

Example Sentences

"It's not about blindly being frugal, it's more about living in the moment," 27-year-old Zhuang told AFP.

Read more on Barron's

He loved shopping and wasn’t, he admitted, frugal.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"My grandfather's generation was very frugal, very thrifty. It is part of Chinese tradition. For Chinese people to be economical is in their bones," she says.

Read more on BBC

My mom and dad were extremely frugal; they scrimped and saved.

Read more on MarketWatch

Famously frugal Germany and the Netherlands are taking on debt, albeit from lower levels.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• canny 
• careful 
• meticulous 
• prudent 
• stingy 
• thrifty