frugal
Careful not to waste money or things.
frugal in a sentence
- Frugal Uncle Pete saves every bit of string and has reused the same wrapping paper for three Christmases.
- Being frugal all year, Mia saved every coin in her jam jar and never wasted a penny.
Try an 11+ style question
Verbal reasoning papers often ask about a word like this.
Which word is closest in meaning to frugal?
- Awasteful
- Bextravagant
- Clavish
- Dthrifty
Show the answer
D: thrifty. The other three mean the opposite of frugal.
Which word is most nearly opposite in meaning to frugal?
- Acareful
- Bthrifty
- Cwasteful
- Dsparing
Show the answer
C: wasteful. The other three mean nearly the same as frugal.
Words that mean something similar
thrifty, careful, sparing
Words that mean the opposite
wasteful, extravagant, lavish
Careful: frugal is not mean
Mean is about not wanting to give. Frugal is about not wanting to waste. Read why children mix them up.
More words about behaviour & manners
- furtive: Done secretly, hoping nobody will notice.
- gape: To stare at something with your mouth wide open.
- glare: To stare at someone in an angry way; or that angry stare.
- gracious: Kind, polite and pleasant to others.
- grovel: To crawl or beg in an overly humble way to please someone.
- haphazard: Done in a messy way with no plan at all.
- hoard: To collect lots of things and hide them away.
- hoax: A trick that makes people believe something that is not true.
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