thrifty, a.
(ˈθrɪftɪ)
[f. thrift n.1 + -y.]
(In many early quotations, it is not possible to fix the meaning of this adj.; two or three senses equally well suiting the context.)
1. Characterized by success or prosperity (see thrift n.1 1); thriving, prosperous, well-to-do, successful, flourishing; fortunate.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 5454 A thousaund þro men þrifte in armys. c 1440 Generydes 1134 Now A dayis I lese all that I wanne, Where here before I was a threfty man. 1545 Elyot s.v. Res, Rem augere, to waxe thryfty. 1634 Ford Perkin Warbeck v. iii, May he prove more thrifty In this world's just applause, not more desertful. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. I. xvii. 487 The Ships crew were not so thrifty in bargaining..as single persons. 1860 Holland Miss Gilbert xxi. 371 The family generally has been getting thrifty in the world. 1865 E. Burritt Walk Land's End x. 339 This is a thrifty, modern-looking town. 1876 Green Stray Stud. 27 Both had become zealous florists, and thrifty, respectable men. 1883 J. W. Sherer At Home & in India 24 No one was in thrifty and independent comfort. |
† 2. a. Of a person: Worthy, worshipful, estimable, respectable, well-living. Cf. thriven 2, thriving ppl. a. 1. Obs.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus i. 1081 The gentileste and ek þe most fre The þriftieste and oon þe beste knyght That yn his tyme was. c 1456 Pecock Bk. Faith (1909) 202 Ech thrifti sad clerk in logik. 1463 Bury Wills (Camden) 26 Sum thrifty man of seynt Marie paryssh to be at the selyng. 1467 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 337, ij thrifty comyners, trewe, sufficiant, and feithfulle men. 1556 Olde Antichrist 196 That we may be founde ready, like thriftye servauntes, at the Lordes commyng. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. iv. (S.T.S.) I. 235 A thryftie man, and proffitable ennimie to gluttonie and al vice. |
† b. Of an action or concrete thing: Respectable, decent, becoming, proper, as it should be. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Man of Law's Prol. 46, I kan right now no thrifty tale seyn. c 1386 ― Wife's Prol. 238, I sitte at hoom, I haue no thrifty clooth. c 1430 Two Cookery-bks. 31 Draw vppe a þrifti Mylke of Almaundys y-blaunchyd. Ibid. 34 Make a gode þryfty Syryppe. c 1449 Pecock Repr. (Rolls) 160 The yuel..is pareable and kutteable awey bi good and thrifti bisynes therto sett. |
3. Thriving physically; growing with vigour; in good or healthy condition; flourishing.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 492/2 Thryfty, vigens. c 1440 Generydes 280 This lady..Brought furth a sonne whiche was a threfte child. 1667 Waterhouse Fire Lond. 171 Thrifty Oaks, though fleeced of under boughs, yet if not headed, may thrive. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 83 In many Forests and Woods, where you have one thrifty Tree, you have twenty unthrifty Ones. 1862 B. Taylor Home & Abroad Ser. ii. 251 A small but thrifty specimen of the Sequoia, or California tree. 1886 C. Scott Sheep-Farming 143 A lot of lambs which..have a fresher and thriftier appearance. 1890 M. E. Wilkins Humble Rom., Bar Lighth. (1891) 279 The bush really looked wonderfully thrifty, considering its many drawbacks to growth. |
4. Characterized by thrift or frugality; economical, careful of expenditure, sparing, saving; provident.
| 1526 Knaresborough Wills (Surtees) I. 20, I wyll, if none of my sonnes be thryftie nor woll thryve,..the land to thuse of our ladie aulter. 1647 Boyle in Life Wks. 1772 I. p. xix, Thrifty he was extremely, and very skilful in the slights of thrift. 1666 ― Orig. Formes & Qual. ii. vii, Tis no very thrifty way of Transmutation. 1688 ― Final Causes Nat. Things iv. 205 Sometimes God's wisdom seems to be as it were thrifty and solicitous not to bestow on an animal..more than is necessary for the use for which 'tis designed. 1726 Swift Gulliver ii. viii, I told my wife she had been too thrifty, for I found she had starved herself and her daughter. 1746 Francis tr. Hor., Sat. ii. vi. 167 Thrifty he was, and full of cares To make the most of his affairs. a 1768 Secker Serm. (1770) III. v. 104 They who are sparing in their younger Days seldom fail to be much more thrifty in their Decline. c 1827 Scott Verses in Lockhart lxxiv, I've heard your knowing people say, Disown the debt you cannot pay, You'll find it far the thriftiest way. 1859 Smiles Self-Help ii. (1860) 35 He was honest,..thrifty and hard-working; and his trade prospered. 1872 Yeats Growth Comm. 3 Wealth would accumulate in the hands of the thrifty. |
† b. Well-husbanded. Obs. rare.
| 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. iii. 39, I haue fiue hundred Crownes, The thriftie hire I saued vnder your Father. |
† c. transf. (?) Of scanty or meagre dimensions.
| 1599 B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. iii. ii, Nor can my weak imperfect memory Now render half the forms unto my tongue, That were convoked within this thrifty room. |