Definition of FRUGAL

Choose the Right Synonym for frugal

sparing, frugal, thrifty, economical mean careful in the use of one's money or resources. sparing stresses abstention and restraint. sparing in the offering of advice frugal implies absence of luxury and simplicity of lifestyle. ran a frugal household thrifty stresses good management and industry. thrifty use of nonrenewable resources economical stresses prudent management, lack of wastefulness, and use of things to their best advantage. an economical health-care plan

frugal Has Surprising Roots

Those who are frugal are unwilling to (lavishly) enjoy the fruits of their labors, so it may surprise you to learn that frugal ultimately derives from the Latin frux, meaning "fruit" or "value," and is even a distant cousin of the Latin word for "enjoy" (frui). The connection between fruit/value and restraint was first made in Latin; the Middle French word that English speakers eventually adopted as frugal came from the Latin adjective frugalis, a frux descendant meaning "virtuous" or "frugal." Although English speakers adopted frugal by the late 16th century, they were already lavishly supplied with earlier coinages to denote the idea, including sparing and thrifty.

Examples of frugal in a Sentence

His meals are the frugal fare of the poor: tea, bread, yogurt, a bit of cheese, vegetables. —Johanna McGeary, Time, 25 Oct. 2004 Like frugal cooks everywhere, Cajun cooks from generations past found plenty of ways to use every part of the animals they raised. —Jeremy Sauer, Cook's Country, June 1995 In a frugal white frame house of tiny rooms that shook with every passing freight train, five boys of German immigrant background had grown up at the turn of the twentieth century. —Robert D. Kaplan, An Empire Wilderness, 1988 a frugal meal of bread and cheese by being frugal, the family is able to stretch its monthly budget

Recent Examples on the Web

That was the first in a series of lessons Huang, whose company sells bulk items that range from paper plates to sparkling water online (it's been called the digital version of Costco) would teach on the importance of being a frugal leader. — Paul C. Brunson, USA TODAY, "Boxed CEO Chieh Huang and the genius of frugal leadership," 13 June 2018 In this novel, like his last one, Gessen writes with special feeling about the flyspecked romance of being young, idealistic, frugal and needing to scrounge for a decent meal. — New York Times, "Struggling to Love, Work and Do the Right Thing in Putin’s Russia," 9 July 2018 Warren County officials have long boasted about being frugal with taxpayer money, and the county made national news earlier this decade for its lack of debt. — Keith Bierygolick, Cincinnati.com, "Addicted, abused and unable to count: a federal lawsuit about damaged kids in Warren County," 12 July 2018 Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images While the ’84 Summer Games are often held up as a model for frugal management, LA’s first time hosting, in 1932, offers a similarly compelling story. — Patrick Sisson, Curbed, "Will LA’s ‘no-build’ Olympics spur Southern California’s next building boom?," 10 July 2018 Gabriel played the eerily zoned-out maid in Get Out, and Upgrade is another Blumhouse Production, which is to say, frugal. — Gary Thompson, Philly.com, "Sci-fi thriller 'Upgrade': When your body has a mind of its own," 30 May 2018 The fanatically frugal can reserve a spot 18 months in advance to take advantage of deeper discounts. — Teresa Rivas, WSJ, "Antarctica Ahoy: 6 Tips on Cruising to the End of the Earth," 21 Mar. 2018 For the Romanov family at the Ipatiev House, Tuesday July 16 in Ekaterinburg was much like any other day, punctuated by the same frugal meals, brief periods of recreation in the garden, reading and games of cards. — Caroline Hallemann, Town & Country, "Inside the Romanov Family's Final Days," 1 July 2018 Sanders hasn’t been particularly frugal with his endorsements. — Emily Stewart, Vox, "Bernie Sanders won’t endorse his son for Congress, citing “dynasty politics”," 7 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'frugal.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.