How to say "thrift" in Japanese

• 倹約けんやくJLPT N1approx.Common
  noun, suru verb, transitive verb, na-adjectiveThe everyday word for thrift in the money sense: careful spending and frugality. Use it when talking about saving money, cutting back, or living on less.
  彼かれは金かねをためるため何なん年間ねんかんもけちけち倹約けんやくした。↗

  He pinched and scraped for many years to save money.
• アルメリア
  nounThe flower, not the money sense: the plant thrift (Armeria maritima), also called sea thrift or sea pink — a katakana rendering of the genus name Armeria. Never use it about saving money.
• はまかんざし
  nounA less common native name for the same plant, thrift or sea pink, usually written in kana alone. It belongs to talk of flowers and seashores, never to money matters.
• 節倹せっけん
  noun, suru verb, transitive verb, intransitive verbAlso thrift or economy in the money sense, but much less common than 倹約; learners will seldom need it, and 倹約 is the word to reach for first.

Use 倹約 for thrift in the sense of careful spending and frugality; 節倹 means the same but is far less common; 「アルメリア」 and 「はまかんざし」 name the plant thrift (sea thrift), never money matters.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 倹約けんやくthrift
• アルメリアthrift (Armeria maritima)
• はまかんざしthrift (Armeria maritima)
• 節倹せっけんeconomy
• 経済けいざいbeing economical
• 締まりしまりcarefulness (with money)