The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms - sparing adj.

1) thrifty, saving, frugal, spare, careful, prudent, parsimonious, economical, penurious, mean; penny-pinching, stingy, niggardly, miserly, close, close-fisted, cheap, Colloq tight, tight-fisted, Brit mingy: As sparing in his praise as he was in his purse, General Waller rarely complimented his troops. 2 See sparse, 2 below.