Word
parsimonious
Phoneticspar·si·mo·nious
US/ˌpɑɹsəˈmoʊniəs/
UK/pˌɑːsɪmˈəʊnɪəs/
Definition
adj. very unwilling to spend money or use resources. It describes someone who is extremely careful with their cash, often to a point that seems mean or selfish.
adj. unwilling to spend money or use resources; extremely frugal or stingy. In scientific contexts, it refers to an explanation that uses the fewest possible assumptions.
Examples
“The parsimonious old man refused to turn on the heating in winter.”
“Despite his vast wealth, the billionaire was known for his parsimonious lifestyle, often wearing the same suit for decades.”
“The committee's parsimonious approach to the research budget ultimately stifled innovation and drove the most talented scientists to seek funding elsewhere.”
Examples
simple
“The parsimonious old man refused to turn on the heating in winter.”
contextual
“Despite his vast wealth, the billionaire was known for his parsimonious lifestyle, often wearing the same suit for decades.”
complex
“The committee's parsimonious approach to the research budget ultimately stifled innovation and drove the most talented scientists to seek funding elsewhere.”
Usage
Often used with a negative connotation to imply stinginess, though in formal logic it can be a neutral term for simplicity.
Real-World Examples
“The absolute trust that Daniel Levy has in Mourinho helped convince the chairman, typically characterised as parsimonious, to loosen the club’s purse-strings in the summer despite the ongoing pandemic.” “If a patient’s symptoms can be explained by the hypothesis that she has common disease C, and also can be explained by the hypothesis that she has rare disease R, you should prefer the C diagnosis over the R. C is said to be more parsimonious.” “My parsimonious Scots DNA takes control of all voluntary senses.” “The machines also enforced a parsimonious programming style.” Etymology
From parsimony + -ious.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Collocations
Domain
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/parsimonious