frugal

[froo-guh l]

adjective

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.
entailing little expense; requiring few resources; meager; scanty: a frugal meal.

Origin of frugal

1590–1600; < Latin frūgālis economical, equivalent to frūg- (stem of frūx produce, fruit) + -ālis -al¹

Related formsfru·gal·i·ty, fru·gal·ness, nounfru·gal·ly, adverbnon·fru·gal, adjectivenon·fru·gal·ly, adverbnon·fru·gal·ness, nouno·ver·fru·gal, adjectiveo·ver·fru·gal·ly, adverbun·fru·gal, adjectiveun·fru·gal·ly, adverbun·fru·gal·ness, noun

Synonym study

Economical, thrifty, frugal imply careful and saving use of resources. 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. Frugal emphasizes being saving, sometimes excessively saving, especially in such matters as food or dress: frugal almost to the point of being stingy.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for frugally

Contemporary Examples of frugally

It is run effectively and frugally by Walter Olson, who in his day job runs the famous Overlawyered blog.
Maryland's Marriage Moment?
David Frum
September 28, 2012

Historical Examples of frugally

My model and I went out and celebrated appropriately but frugally.
Southern Lights and Shadows
Various
You must earn the money, and I will spend it frugally as we both require it.
In the Roar of the Sea
Sabine Baring-Gould
Live as frugally as you can, put by every penny you can save.
The Intriguers
William Le Queux
Of the latter she remarks that they do not live so frugally as the Arabs.
Celebrated Women Travellers of the Nineteenth Century
W. H. Davenport Adams
That the boarding Scholars diet together, plainly, temperately, and frugally.
Benjamin Franklin
Frank Luther Mott

British Dictionary definitions for frugally

frugal

adjective

practising economy; living without waste; thrifty
not costly; meagre

Derived Formsfrugality or frugalness, nounfrugally, adverb

Word Origin for frugal

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for frugally

frugal

adj.

1590s, from Middle French frugal, from Latin frugalis, from undeclined adj. frugi "useful, proper, worthy, honest; temperate, economical," originally dative of frux (plural fruges) "fruit, produce," figuratively "value, result, success," related to fructus (see fruit). Sense evolved in Latin from "useful" to "profitable" to "economical." Related: Frugally.