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

Derived Forms

• fruˈgality, noun
• ˈfrugally, adverb

Other Words From

• fru·gal·i·ty [froo-, gal, -i-tee], fru·gal·ness noun
• fru·gal·ly adverb
• non·fru·gal adjective
• non·fru·gal·ness noun
• o·ver·fru·gal adjective
• un·fru·gal adjective
• un·fru·gal·ness 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 hard to see how a frugal mindset reinforced by years of poverty and shaming by our culture could yield the same mindset around money.

From Salon

Chief financial officer Neil Sorahan said he thought that consumers were simply being "a little bit more frugal, a bit more cautious" with their money.

From BBC

So, the AI dogfighter’s frugal heritage includes air-to-air combat tactics downloaded from Wikipedia, leaving classified information well out of the picture and contributing to the pace of the project.

From BBC

Dad was notoriously frugal,” she said, drawing laughs.

From Seattle Times

The goal: figure out how much the frugal fan can expect to spend at a major sporting event in Seattle, at a bare minimum.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

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