frugality

noun

fru·​gal·​i·​ty frü-ˈga-lə-tē 

: the quality or state of being frugal : careful management of material resources and especially money : thrift

For these renters, the philosophy is more about having it all … than it is about hardship or frugality.

—Roya Wolverson

The conference table, like all the company's desks, is made of a door bolted to two-by-fours, a deliberate message of frugality to employees of a company that is losing hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

—Saul Hansell

Synonyms

• economy
• saving
• thrift
• parsimony

Examples of frugality in a Sentence

her lifelong frugality has enabled her to save enough money to go to college next year

Recent Examples on the Web

Being frugal isn’t something that people should be ashamed of; frugality can lead to the wildest innovations. —Vivek Bhaskaran, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2025

Others think the frugality signals economic skittishness. —Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 11 Aug. 2025

The ‘hidden cost’ of frugality Brian and Angela earn $188,000 a year and have $294,000 in debt between their mortgage and car payments. —Kamaron McNair, CNBC, 7 Aug. 2025

Ike Ugbo was signed for £2.5m from Troyes last summer in a deal that bucked the trend of frugality. —Philip Buckingham, New York Times, 1 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French & Latin; Middle French frugalité, borrowed from Latin frūgālitāt-, frūgālitās "steadiness of life, temperance, self-restraint," from frūgāl-, base of frūgālior and frūgālissimus, comparative and superlative degrees of frūgī "having merit or worth, deserving, sober, thrifty" + -itāt-, -itās -ity — more at frugal

First Known Use

1531, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for frugality

• banality
• bestiality
• brutality
• carnality
• centrality
• chirality
• duality
• fatality
• finality
• formality
• legality
• lethality