sparingly

Everyday

Using only a little of something; carefully and not wastefully. tree →

In the lessons

In cooking, «use salt sparingly» means only a pinch; in health, the food pyramid says to eat sugary foods sparingly. In science and art, use glue or paint sparingly. In everyday life, people use water sparingly in a drought.

Examples

• Use the glue sparingly or it will make a mess. tree →
• Eat sweets sparingly. tree →
• Water was used sparingly during the drought. tree →
• Apply the cream sparingly to the rash. tree →
• The writer used capital letters sparingly. tree →
• She praised us sparingly, so her praise meant a lot. tree →

Note

Adverb from «sparing» (careful with amounts), from «spare». Opposite: generously, lavishly. In maths problems it may mean a smaller amount is used each time.