節せつ約やく

せ

つ

や

く

Common wordJLPTN3Freq.FrequencyTop 10,000

節約する · noun or participle which takes 'suru'

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	節せつ約やくする	節せつ約やくしない
Polite	節せつ約やくします	節せつ約やくしません
Past polite	節せつ約やくしました	節せつ約やくしませんでした
Past	節せつ約やくした	節せつ約やくしなかった
Te-form	節せつ約やくして	節せつ約やくしないで
Desire	節せつ約やくしたい	節せつ約やくしたくない
Potential	節せつ約やくできる	節せつ約やくできない
Passive	節せつ約やくされる	節せつ約やくされない
Causative	節せつ約やくさせる	節せつ約やくさせない
Causative passive	節せつ約やくさせられる	節せつ約やくさせられない
Volitional	節せつ約やくしよう
Polite volitional	節せつ約やくしましょう
Imperative	節せつ約やくしろ	節せつ約やくするな
Conditional	節せつ約やくすれば	節せつ約やくしなければ
Tara conditional	節せつ約やくしたら	節せつ約やくしなかったら

Meanings

noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru', transitive verb

saving; economizing; cutting down

Broadly used for saving money, time, resources, or effort. Often implies a conscious effort to reduce waste or unnecessary spending.

光こう熱ねつ費ひを節せつ約やくするために、こまめに電でん気きを消けしている。
To save on utility bills, I make a point of turning off lights frequently.
時じ間かんを節せつ約やくするには、事じ前ぜんの準じゅん備びが大たい切せつだ。
To save time, advance preparation is important.

See all 169 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

〈物もの〉を節せつ約やくするto save/economize on something (money, time, electricity, etc.)
電でん気きを節せつ約やくするために早はやく寝ねるようにしている。
I try to go to bed early to save electricity.
節せつ約やくに努つとめるto make an effort to economize
毎まい月つきの生せい活かつ費ひの節せつ約やくに努つとめている。
I make an effort to cut down on my monthly living expenses.
〈事こと〉のために節せつ約やくするto save/economize for the sake of something
海かい外がい旅りょ行こうのために節せつ約やくしている。
I'm cutting back on spending to save up for a trip abroad.
節せつ約やく生せい活かつを送おくるto live a frugal life
学がく生せい時じ代だいは節せつ約やく生せい活かつを送おくっていた。
During my student years I lived a frugal life.

Kanji

節node, season, period
約promise, approximately, shrink

Related words· 16

倹けん約やくN1
倹約 stresses frugality as a personal habit or virtue, while 節約 more neutrally describes cutting down on money, time, or resources in a specific situation.
セーブ
節約 is a general, formal term for economizing money or resources, while セーブ often describes casually holding back on consumption or effort.
省しょうN2
節約 is a stand-alone noun/verb meaning to economize or save resources, while 省 functions only as a prefix in compounds such as 省エネ.
買かい控びかえ
節約 means saving or economizing in general, while 買い控え specifically refers to holding back on purchases due to price rises or economic uncertainty.

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締しめるN5
締める in the sense of cutting expenses is more idiomatic and often paired with 財布のひも, while 節約する is the plain, general verb for saving money.
エコノミー
節約 is the common everyday verb-noun for saving money, while エコノミー in this sense mainly appears on product or service labels like エコノミーパック.
経けい済ざい的てきN1
節約 is a noun/suru-verb meaning 'to economize or save', while 経済的 is the adjective describing something as economical or cost-effective.
経けい済ざいN5
節約 is the plain, everyday word for actively saving money or resources, while 経済 in this sense is a more formal or abstract way to say the same thing.
節せつ電でんN2
節電 is limited to conserving electricity, whereas 節約 is the general word for economizing on money, resources, or time.
惜おしむN2
節約する describes deliberate, practical economizing of resources, whereas 惜しむ carries an emotional reluctance to part with something.
節せつ減げん
節約 is the everyday word for saving money or resources in daily life, while 節減 is more formal and typically used in institutional or policy contexts.
やりくりN1
節約 means cutting back or economizing, whereas やりくり is about creatively rearranging limited resources to make things work.
詰つめるN3
節約する is the general verb for saving money or resources, while 詰める in this sense specifically means cutting expenses down to a tighter margin.
緊きん縮しゅく
節約 refers to everyday saving or economizing by individuals or households, while 緊縮 is formal and typically describes policy-level spending cuts.
始し末まつN1
節約 is the everyday modern word for saving money or resources, while the frugality sense of 始末 is older-fashioned and more limited in use.
省はぶくN3
節約する focuses on saving money, time, or resources as the goal itself, while 省く focuses on cutting out an unnecessary step or element in a process.

Opposites· 6

浪ろう費ひN1
浪費 means to waste money or resources needlessly, the opposite of 節約, which means to save or use them sparingly.
費ついやすN2
節約する means to save or economize resources, the opposite of 費やす's sense of spending or using them up.
おごりN3
節約 means frugality or thrift, the direct opposite of the excess and indulgence implied by 奢り.

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無む駄だ遣づかいN2
節約 means being frugal and saving resources, the direct opposite of 無駄遣い, which means wastefully spending them.
奮ふん発ぱつN1
節約 means saving or cutting back, the opposite of 奮発 (sense 2)'s spending extra as a treat.
おごるN3
節約する means to economize or save money, the opposite of おごる's sense of living extravagantly.

Don't confuse with

省はぶくN3
省く means to omit or cut something out entirely, whereas 節約 means to use something more sparingly without necessarily eliminating it.

Word family

節せつ約やく家か
thrifty person; saver; frugal person
時じ間かん節せつ約やく
time saving; saving time
経けい費ひ節せつ約やく
cost cutting; expense reduction; financial retrenchment
資し源げん節せつ約やく
resource conservation; saving resources
最さい大だい節せつ約やく法ほう
maximum parsimony method

Etymology

From 節 (setsu, 'section; moderation') + 約 (yaku, 'promise; abbreviation; saving'). The combination conveys the idea of moderating or cutting back on something.