Word
sparing
Phoneticsspar·ing
US/ˈspɛɹɪŋ/
UK/spˈeəɹɪŋ/
Definition
adj. using very little of something, especially to avoid waste. You use this when you want to be careful with your money, food, or words.
adj. using or giving in small quantities; moderate or frugal in the consumption of resources. Often used to describe a restrained style of communication or the careful use of supplies.
Examples
“He is very sparing with his praise.”
“During the long drought, the farmers were extremely sparing with their water usage to ensure the livestock survived.”
“The author's sparing use of adjectives creates a lean, muscular prose style that forces the reader to focus on the characters' actions rather than their internal states.”
Examples
simple
“He is very sparing with his praise.”
contextual
“During the long drought, the farmers were extremely sparing with their water usage to ensure the livestock survived.”
complex
“The author's sparing use of adjectives creates a lean, muscular prose style that forces the reader to focus on the characters' actions rather than their internal states.”
Usage
Typically used with the preposition 'with'. Often appears in the phrase 'sparing with the truth' as a euphemism for lying.
Real-World Examples
“The strategy removes a specific protein from donor cells so that therapies aimed at that protein can attack cancer while sparing healthy transplanted cells.” “There are sparing references to horror cinema and Mann operates with the knowledge, as proven by The Woman in Black, that less is more when scaring on stage.” Scan code
englishreference.com/q/sparing