using the minimum of time or resources necessary for effectiveness; "an economic use of home heating oil"; "a modern economical heating system"; "an economical use of her time"
financially rewarding; "it was no longer economic to keep the factory open"; "have to keep prices high enough to make it economic to continue the service"
concerned with worldly necessities of life (especially money); "he wrote the book primarily for economic reasons"; "gave up the large house for economic reasons"; "in economic terms they are very privileged"
of or relating to the science of economics; "economic theory"
of or relating to an economy, the system of production and management of material wealth; "economic growth"; "aspects of social, political, and economical life"
avoiding waste; "an economical meal"; "an economical shopper"; "a frugal farmer"; "a frugal lunch"; "a sparing father and a spending son"; "sparing in their use of heat and light"; "stinting in bestowing gifts"; "thrifty because they remember the great Depression"; "`scotch' is used only informally"
used to imply that one would expect the fact to be the opposite of that stated; surprisingly; "you may actually be doing the right thing by walking out"; "she actually spoke Latin"; "they thought they made the rules but in reality they were only puppets"; "people who seem stand-offish are in reality often simply nervous"
in actual fact; "to be nominally but not actually independent"; "no one actually saw the shark"; "large meteorites actually come from the asteroid belt"
as a sentence modifier to add slight emphasis; "actually, we all help clear up after a meal"; "actually, I haven't seen the film"; "I'm not all that surprised actually"; "she hasn't proved to be too satisfactory, actually"
at the present moment; "the transmission screen shows the picture that is actually on the air"
eager to acquire and possess things especially material possessions or ideas; "an acquisitive mind"; "an acquisitive society in which the craving for material things seems never satisfied"