Synonyms for parsimony
Most common
meanness stinginess avarice cheapness frugality economy penny-pinching
Synonyms by meaning
Noun
1. Meanness
meanness, stinginess, avarice, cheapness, closeness, niggardliness, parsimoniousness, tightness, minginess, niggardness, tightfistedness, miserliness
2. Frugality — with a positive connotation, careful spending of money or other resources; frugality, thrift; (countable) an…
frugality, economy, thriftiness, efficiency, frugalness, sparingness, penuriousness
3. Penny-pinching
Definitions
- n. 1
With a positive connotation: careful spending of money or other resources; frugality, thrift; (countable) an instance of this. Chiefly in law of parsimony, principle of parsimony, etc.: the quality or characteristic of using the fewest facts or resources to explain a situation or to solve a problem.
- n. 2
With a negative connotation: great reluctance to spend money or other resources; miserliness, stinginess; (countable) an instance of this.
Related words
- Word family
- parsimonious
Forms
- Plural
- parsimonies → meannesses, stinginesses, avarices, cheapnesses…
Choose the right word
Frugality exalted into a virtue to be practised for its own sake, instead of as a means to an end, becomes the vice of parsimony.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- avarice Young men are apt to fall a victim to their own avarice.
- meanness I took for granted that he was above such meanness.
- cheapness If the reason to buy is its cheapness, I won't buy it.
- stinginess There's a big difference between frugality and stinginess.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| parsimony | rising | |
| avarice | steady | |
| meanness | steady | |
| cheapness | falling | |
| stinginess | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 6 letters
- thrift1
- 7 letters
- economy4, avarice3
- 8 letters
- meanness2
- 9 letters
- closeness2, tightness2, frugality4, cheapness2, minginess
- 10 letters
- efficiency4, stinginess3, frugalness
- 11 letters
- thriftiness, miserliness, niggardness, sparingness
- 13 letters
- niggardliness4, penuriousness
- 15 letters
- tightfistedness
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (economy4 = 4 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- parcimonie
- Italiano
- parsimonia