as in spartan
providing only the essentials and nothing fancy or luxurious
a low-cost, no-frills vacation during which we camped out and cooked our own meals
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Recent Examples of no-frills
Pasta with meat sauce Randhawa's Grandma's Spaghetti Sauce with Meat is a no-frills, extra-meaty sauce passed down from her grandmother to her father and now to her.
—
Deirdre Bardolf, FOXNews.com, 23 Jan. 2026
Where are the Queen City’s most beloved fancy and no-frills hamburger joints?
—Shindy Chen, Charlotte Observer, 21 Jan. 2026
The splurge-worthy sweater will serve as a workhorse in your year-round wardrobe thanks to its versatile, no-frills design.
—Kyra Surgent, InStyle, 18 Jan. 2026
Expect no-frills musicianship under warm stage lights, a crowd swaying to pedal steel and fiddle, and the kind of intimate connection that has made Wall’s shows feel like stories shared around a campfire.
—Travis Pinson, Dallas Morning News, 15 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for no-frills
Deirdre Bardolf, FOXNews.com, 23 Jan. 2026
Where are the Queen City’s most beloved fancy and no-frills hamburger joints?
—Shindy Chen, Charlotte Observer, 21 Jan. 2026
The splurge-worthy sweater will serve as a workhorse in your year-round wardrobe thanks to its versatile, no-frills design.
—Kyra Surgent, InStyle, 18 Jan. 2026
Expect no-frills musicianship under warm stage lights, a crowd swaying to pedal steel and fiddle, and the kind of intimate connection that has made Wall’s shows feel like stories shared around a campfire.
—Travis Pinson, Dallas Morning News, 15 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for no-frills
Recent Examples of Synonyms for no-frills
Adjective
-
Yes, rooms are small, but the furniture and layout maximizes space in smart not spartan ways.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
30 Jan. 2026
-
In one corner stood a spartan single bed, in the other a small woodstove.—
Michael Pollan,
The Atlantic,
26 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Feltner’s routine was pretty simple.—
Patrick Saunders,
Denver Post,
12 Feb. 2026
-
Crime 101 takes the same view of quid pro quo as the most basic form of American commerce and makes simple but brutal points about value and self-worth, where your car, its year, make and model, matters more than your resumé.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
That extends to the roving, untethered movement of David Raedeker’s camera, capturing both the austere beauty and the overbuilt tackiness of the setting in bleachy, unrelenting sunlight, and to the film’s varied, agitated electro soundtrack from former A-Ha keyboardist Erik Ljunggren.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
5 Feb. 2026
-
Smaller support requirements allow faster setup and sustainment, particularly in forward or austere locations.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
4 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“No-frills.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/no-frills. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.
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