DictionaryAI

parsimonious

adjective
USpahr-si-MOH-nee-uhs/pɑɹ.sɪˈmoʊ.ni.əs/UKpah-si-MOH-nee-uhs/pɑː.sɪˈməʊ.ni.əs/

2 meanings of parsimonious

Practice

  1. 1
    with moneyadjective
    Very sparing, unwilling to spend or give more than is necessary, especially money, but also words, details, resources, or, of a sports defense, goals.

    The parsimonious landlord refused to fix the broken heater until December.

    Voters rewarded the governor for a parsimonious approach to state spending.

    UsageOf people it usually sounds critical, like stingy; of costs or spending it can be praise.

    Similarstingy, frugal, miserly, thrifty, sparing

    Oppositegenerous, lavish, extravagant, profligate

    Note

    Whether it praises or blames depends on who is speaking. William Graham Sumner defended an "economical government, even if grand people called it a parsimonious one," treating the word as the critic's label for thrift. Kiplinger's Personal Finance, by contrast, praises savings plans for their "parsimonious expenses," meaning simply low ones.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • William Graham Sumner used the quoted wording while defending economical government and presenting 'parsimonious' as its critics' label. en.wikisource.org
    • Kiplinger's Personal Finance praised college-savings plans for their 'parsimonious expenses'. en.wiktionary.org
  2. 2
    simple theoryadjective
    Using as few assumptions, steps, or conjectures as possible.

    The researchers favored a parsimonious model with two predictors over a sprawling one with twenty.

    Biologists chose the parsimonious family tree, the one that required the fewest evolutionary changes.

    Similareconomical, simple

    Oppositecomplex

    Note

    In science the word is pure praise: a parsimonious model or explanation does the job with the least machinery, and when rival accounts fit the facts equally well, researchers favor it. Statisticians speak of the parsimonious selection of predictors, biologists of the parsimonious family tree. The hint of meanness in the money-sparing meaning drops away entirely; here sparing means economical in thought.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Scientific parsimony favors a simpler explanation when competing explanations account for the evidence equally well. monash.edu
    • Statistical literature uses 'parsimonious selection' for choosing predictors. link.springer.com
    • Biologists describe evolutionary trees as parsimonious when they require fewer evolutionary changes. monash.edu

Practice

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Origin

Formed from parsimony + -ious.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts