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

This required immense discipline, frugality, and a laser focus on delivering value to early adopters. —Geri Stengel, Forbes, 23 Dec. 2024

During the campaign, Eisenhower promised only modest changes to Truman’s foreign policies, both on Korea and on containment more generally, pledging merely to bring more competence and frugality to their implementation. —Steven Casey, Foreign Affairs, 14 Dec. 2015

The spread of frugality is hurting China’s economy Oct. 24, 2024 Despite trade talks over the next year, each country continued to impose more tariffs. —Stephanie Yang, Los Angeles Times, 10 Dec. 2024

Their period of frugality paid off: At age 28, Bellucci and her fiancé purchased a five-bedroom house built in the 1950s in Babylon, New York. —Madeline Bilis, Architectural Digest, 21 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