What does unthrifty mean?
Unthrifty is an adjective for conduct, management, or spending that is wasteful rather than careful with money and other resources. It often appears in contexts involving household economy, business, public administration, or the use of materials: an unthrifty budget, for instance, is one built on unnecessary expenditure, while unthrifty management is inefficient or improvident. The tone is critical and sometimes moralizing, suggesting not merely that a result is poor but that the people responsible have squandered what could have been saved or put to better use. Although the word is understood in both British and American English, it sounds literary, formal, and somewhat old-fashioned compared with the plainer wasteful, extravagant, or uneconomical. It can also describe a person, particularly one who fails to provide for future needs. Unthrifty is useful when the problem is not simply overspending but a broader pattern of careless, unsustainable, or inefficient use of resources. In modern prose, its relative rarity lends emphasis and may make a criticism sound traditional or elevated.
adjectiveWasteful or careless in the use of money, time, or other resources; uneconomical.
- Wasteful, careless, or uneconomical in the use of money, time, materials, or other resources.
"The committee condemned the organization's long history of unthrifty spending."
"Years of unthrifty spending left the charity without enough money to continue its work."
"The novel portrays the family's slow decline as the result of the father's unthrifty habits."
Add un- to thrifty and you get a compact verdict on spending as if tomorrow's budget is someone else's problem.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does unthrifty come from?
Unthrifty was formed in English by combining the negative prefix un- with thrifty, the adjective meaning careful and economical. Its sense developed through the opposition between careful management and wastefulness. Thrift, thrifty, and ultimately thrive belong to a wider Germanic family associated with prosperity and flourishing, from which the modern emphasis on economical use of resources developed.
Related word forms
How unthrifty is actually used
The word is formal, literary, and somewhat old-fashioned in contemporary English. It carries a strongly disapproving tone and can suggest both present waste and failure to provide for future needs.
Easily confused with unthrifty
Thrifty means careful and economical with resources, whereas unthrifty means wasteful or careless with them.