frugal.

Careful about spending money or using resources, especially to avoid waste.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• frugal habits
• frugal living

On the page

Her frugal habits kept the household secure through a difficult winter.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: Comparative more frugal; superlative most frugal when comparison is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: moderately common.