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
• husbandry
• parsimony
• penny-pinching
• providence
• scrimping
• skimping
• thrift

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

Beyond the difficulty with horses, this was part of a republican culture that prized physical ruggedness and frugality and derided pompousness. —Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 30 Dec. 2024

Cavuto, the first anchor hired by Fox News in 1996, is another casualty of newfound frugality in the TV news business. —Ryan Faughnder, Los Angeles Times, 24 Dec. 2024

The only franchises approaching the A’s frugality are the St. Louis Cardinals (largest total contract value was $130 million to Paul Goldschmidt in 2020), Pittsburgh Pirates ($106.8 million to Bryan Reynolds in 2023) and Chicago White Sox ($75 million to Andrew Benintendi in 2023). —Lev Akabas, Sportico.com, 5 Dec. 2024

At the same time, young folks’ frugality is being driven by more than pocketbook concerns, Lawrence said. —Paul Davidson, USA TODAY, 4 Nov. 2024

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