frugal

B2 Topic:Money & Finance

US /ˈfɹuːɡəl/ See IPA manual

adj Freq #31985

Meanings

1

adj
Careful with money; avoiding waste.

Being frugal, she saved a little from every paycheck.
2

adj
Small and simple, using little.

They lived on a frugal diet of bread and soup.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · careful with money;... economical thrifty

More abstemious canny chary cheap economic husbandlyhuswifelymoderate parsimoniouspenny-pinchingprudent

Opposites

extravagant lavish prodigal simple spendthrift

Word family

Forms frugally

Derived forms frugalismfrugalistfrugalistafrugalityfrugalizefrugallyfrugalnessinfrugalsuperfrugalunfrugal

Related forms stingy

Etymology

From Middle French, from Latin frugalis (“virtuous, thrifty”). Displaced native Old English spærhende (literally “spare-handed”).

*bʰruHg- Proto-Indo-European frugalis Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Money & Finance

# frugal

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** ˈfɹuːɡəl
**Frequency rank:** 31985

## Meanings
1. Careful with money; avoiding waste.
2. Small and simple, using little.

## Examples
- Being frugal, she saved a little from every paycheck.
- They lived on a frugal diet of bread and soup.

## Synonyms
- abstemious
- canny
- chary
- cheap
- economic
- economical
- husbandly
- huswifely
- moderate
- parsimonious
- penny-pinching
- prudent

## Antonyms
- extravagant
- lavish
- prodigal
- simple
- spendthrift

## Derived Forms
- frugalism
- frugalist
- frugalista
- frugality
- frugalize
- frugally
- frugalness
- infrugal
- superfrugal
- unfrugal

## Related Forms
- stingy

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *bʰruHg-
- Root: frugalis

## Etymology
From Middle French, from Latin frugalis (“virtuous, thrifty”). Displaced native Old English spærhende (literally “spare-handed”).

## AI Etymology
Frugal comes from Middle French, from Latin frugalis (“virtuous, thrifty”). Displaced native Old English spærhende (literally “spare-handed”). In current use, the main senses are “Careful with money; avoiding waste” and “Small and simple, using little”.

## Topics
- Money & Finance

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