exiguous

[ig-zig-yoo-uhs, ik-sig-]

adjective

1. scanty; meager; small; slender.

   exiguous income.

exiguous

/ ˌɛksɪˈɡjuːɪtɪ, ɪkˈsɪɡ-, ɪɡˈzɪɡjʊəs /

adjective

1. scanty or slender; meagre

   an exiguous income

Other Word Forms

• exiguity noun
• exiguousness noun
• exiguously adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of exiguous¹

First recorded in 1645–55; from Latin exiguus “scanty in measure or number, small,” equivalent to exig(ere) “to drive out, measure, exact” + -uus adjective suffix; exigent, -ous ( def. )

Word History and Origins

Origin of exiguous¹

C17: from Latin exiguus, from exigere to weigh out; see _exigent

Example Sentences

Now in its 84th impression in Spanish, it remains a fixture on the exiguous shelves devoted to Latin America in bookshops in Europe and the United States.

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Beecroft's rationale for proposing a whole series of changes weakening employment protection was the assertion, offered without evidence, that workers use their exiguous protections to get away with working below capacity.

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Elizabeth is effectively obliterated and yet one immediately recognises her from this exiguous after-image.

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He sat down on one of the specially designed artistic chairs of the Associated Booksellers' Trading Union and produced an exiguous lady's handkerchief, extraordinarily belaced.

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To extend these limits, which confined in so exiguous a compass our therapeutic agents, has been the laborious and singular study of Hahnemann and his disciples.

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