Thrifty describes a person who is careful with money. Economical usually describes things and ways of doing things that do not waste.
The two words share an idea, being careful not to waste, so children treat them as a matched pair. The difference is mostly what they describe.
Thrifty is a word for people and their habits. A thrifty grandad saves his pocket change in a jar, mends his own socks and never throws away leftovers. It is a compliment about someone's character.
Economical usually describes things or methods. A small car that uses very little petrol is economical, and so is walking to school instead of taking the bus. It also stretches beyond money to time and materials: cutting all the biscuit shapes close together is an economical use of the dough.
Careful with money and never wasteful.
Similar: economical, sparing, careful
Careful not to waste money, time or materials.
Similar: thrifty, sparing, careful
In cloze questions the sentence often decides it. A gap describing a person's nature suits thrifty, while a gap describing a car, a heating system or a method suits economical, and knowing the difference turns a coin-toss into a clear choice.
Definitions and example sentences on this page are the ones a child sees inside Wordrealm, taken from our list of over 1,100 words. It is free to browse, with nothing to sign up for.
Plain-English guides to each test, from the councils’ own pages: Kent Test · Medway Test · Bucks Secondary Transfer Test