economical
Careful not to waste money, time or materials.
economical in a sentence
- Buying the big box of cereal is more economical than buying three small ones.
- Gran is very economical and turns old jumpers into cushion covers.
Try an 11+ style question
Verbal reasoning papers often ask about a word like this.
Which word is closest in meaning to economical?
- Aextravagant
- Bwasteful
- Cthrifty
Show the answer
C: thrifty. The other three mean the opposite of economical.
Which word is most nearly opposite in meaning to economical?
- Awasteful
- Bcareful
- Csparing
- Dthrifty
Show the answer
A: wasteful. The other three mean nearly the same as economical.
Words that mean something similar
thrifty, sparing, careful
Words that mean the opposite
wasteful, extravagant
Careful: economical is not thrifty
Thrifty describes a person who is careful with money. Economical usually describes things and ways of doing things that do not waste. Read why children mix them up.
More words about size & amount
- enormous: Extremely large.
- estimate: To work out roughly how much or how many, without counting exactly.
- extraordinary: So unusual or amazing that it is far beyond normal.
- fragment: A small piece that has broken off something.
- gigantic: Very much bigger than normal.
- hefty: Big, heavy and solid.
- immense: Huge in size or amount, often too big to measure easily.
- inferior: Not as good as something else.
More words to explore
Sitting the 11+ in Kent, Medway or Buckinghamshire?
Plain-English guides to each test, from the councils’ own pages: Kent Test · Medway Test · Bucks Secondary Transfer Test