no-frills

adjective

ˈnō-ˈfrilz 

: offering or providing only the essentials : not fancy, elaborate, or luxurious

a no-frills airline

Synonyms of no-frills

• spartan
• simple
• austere

Examples of no-frills in a Sentence

a low-cost, no-frills vacation during which we camped out and cooked our own meals

Recent Examples on the Web

Kornacki developed a strong audience following with his no-frills, drill-down into the voting data during his years at cable network MSNBC, which became MS NOW last year ahead of its spinoff this year into a new company, Versant. — Los Angeles Times, 4 Nov. 2026

The meeting spot is Eli’s—a no-frills offshoot of one of New York’s most iconic gourmet markets, located on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. — Danielle McNally, InStyle, 22 Oct. 2026

This Dieux moisturizer comes in a no-frills, much smaller tube but offers the same amount of product. — Elleanna Revell, Condé Nast Traveler, 14 Oct. 2026

Carnegie Hall seats well over 3,000 people, but this intense, no-frills performance film gives life to the old saying about feeling alone in a crowd. — Damon Wise, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1948, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for no-frills

• bluegills
• brazils
• distills
• distils
• foothills
• fulfills
• fulfils
• handbills
• instills
• landfills
• refills
• sandhills