Meaning & use
fuel economy
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Meaning
noununcountable
How efficiently a vehicle uses fuel, usually measured by the distance it can travel on a set amount.
Grammar: Used without a: this car has good fuel economy.
Patterns
- good fuel economy
- improve fuel economy
- fuel economy of something
This small hybrid has excellent fuel economy.
Driving slowly can improve your fuel economy on long trips.
The truck's poor fuel economy makes it costly to run.
Common combinations
- improve fuel economy
- Keeping your tires inflated can improve fuel economy.
- good fuel economy
- Buyers want a car with good fuel economy.
- fuel economy standards
- New fuel economy standards apply to all cars from 2028.
- poor fuel economy
- Older engines tend to have poor fuel economy.
- fuel economy rating
- The sticker shows the fuel economy rating.
Synonyms and how they differ
- fuel efficiency
- Fuel efficiency is nearly identical and is more common in technical and British writing.
- mileage
- Mileage often means the distance a car has traveled, though in American speech it can also mean fuel economy.
- gas mileage
- Gas mileage is a casual American phrase for miles per gallon.
Opposites
Word family
- economy noun
- careful use of resources, or a country's wealth system
- economical adjective
- using little money or fuel
- economize verb
- to use less of something
- fuel noun
- material burned to make energy
Commonly confused: fuel economy or economic?
fuel economy vs economic
Economic relates to the economy as a system; economical means cheap or efficient to use, as in an economical car.
Practice
A car that travels 50 miles on one gallon of gas is said to have good ___.
Choose one answer.
Fuel economy means how far a vehicle goes per amount of fuel. The other options relate to supply or location, not efficiency.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fuel economy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.