economical

B2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˌɛk.əˈnɑ.mɪ.kəl/ UK /ˌiː.kəˈnɒm.ɪ.kəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #23863

Meanings

1

adj
Not using a lot of money, fuel, or other resources; not wasteful.

A small car is more economical to run than a large one.
2

adj
Careful not to spend more money than necessary.

She is very economical and always looks for the best deals.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · not using a lot of money,... frugal sparing

2 adj · careful not to spend more... thrifty frugal prudent

Word family

Derived forms agroeconomicalbioeconomicaleconomicallyeconomicalnessgeoeconomicalnoneconomicalpharmacoeconomicalsocio-political-economicaluneconomicaluneconomicalness

Related forms economic

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

economical use
using a resource carefully so that little is wasted

Adjective + noun

Idioms (1)

See all

economical with the truth
deliberately omitting important facts in order to give a misleading impression

Etymology

From economic + -al.

*weyḱ- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Personal Finance

External links

# economical

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˌɛk.əˈnɑ.mɪ.kəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˌiː.kəˈnɒm.ɪ.kəl/
**Frequency rank:** 23863

## Meanings
1. Not using a lot of money, fuel, or other resources; not wasteful.
2. Careful not to spend more money than necessary.

## Examples
- A small car is more economical to run than a large one.
- She is very economical and always looks for the best deals.

## Derived Forms
- agroeconomical
- bioeconomical
- economically
- economicalness
- geoeconomical
- noneconomical
- pharmacoeconomical
- socio-political-economical
- uneconomical
- uneconomicalness

## Related Forms
- economic

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *weyḱ-

## Etymology
From economic + -al.

## AI Etymology
Economical is formed from economic + -al. In current use, the main senses are “Not using a lot of money, fuel, or other resources; not wasteful” and “Careful not to spend more money than necessary”. Its deeper ancestry includes Proto-Indo-European *weyḱ-.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Personal Finance

markdown